A Cross-Sectional Survey Study to Assess Prevalence and Attitudes Regarding Research Misconduct among Investigators in the Middle East

Journal of Academic Ethics
Marwan FelaefelHenry Silverman

Abstract

Recent studies from Western countries indicate significant levels of questionable research practices, but similar data from low and middle-income countries are limited. Our aims were to assess the prevalence of and attitudes regarding research misconduct among researchers in several universities in the Middle East and to identify factors that might account for our findings. We distributed an anonymous questionnaire to a convenience sample of investigators at several universities in Egypt, Lebanon, and Bahrain. Participants were asked to a) self-report their extent of research misconducts, as well as their knowledge of colleagues engaging in similar research misconducts and b) provide their extent of agreement with certain attitudes about research misconduct. We used descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression statistics to analyze the data. Data from 278 participants showed a high prevalence of misconduct, as 59.4% of our respondents self-reported to committing at least one misbehaviors and 74.5% reported having knowledge of any misbehaviors among any of their colleagues. The most common type of self-report misconduct was "circumventing research ethics regulations" (50.5%) followed by "fabrication and falsifica...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 1, 2018·Asian Bioethics Review·Zaw-Zaw OoHenry Silverman
Aug 12, 2020·Science and Engineering Ethics·Amos K LaarArthur Caplan
Jan 26, 2021·Science and Engineering Ethics·Ramón A FeenstraDaniel Pallarés-Domínguez
Sep 25, 2021·Accountability in Research·Kuei-Chiu Chen, Laurel L Hester
Dec 22, 2021·Science and Engineering Ethics·Matthias KaiserOle Bjørn Rekdal

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