The current blogspot will be based on the question “what are the list of reasons for committing research misconduct?”. We will learn the list of reasons for committing research misconduct and discuss them in detail.
What are the list of reasons for committing research misconduct?
There are a list of reasons for committing research misconduct. The most common list of reasons for committing research misconduct are as below:
- Research misconduct occurs due to inadequate training
- Research misconduct occurs due to factors such as age, gender, policies that are needed to manage reseacher’s behaviour and peer pressure
- Research misconduct occurs due to personal circumstances
- Research misconduct occurs due to less support
- Research misconduct occurs due to competitive pressures
- Research misconduct occurs due to career and funding pressures
- Research misconduct occurs due to institutional failures
- Research misconduct happens due to conflicts of interest
- Research misconduct happens due to individual psychology
- Research misconduct happens when there is social deviance
- Research misconduct occurs due to environmental factors
- Research misconduct occurs when there are poor standards of mentoring
- Research misconduct happens due to negligence and non seriousness of a person
- Research misconduct happens when people are non-supportive
- Research misconduct happens when there are tough deadlines
- Research misconduct happens when there is less knowledge
- Research misconduct happens when there is communication gap
- Research misconduct happens due to poor supervision
- Research misconduct happens when inappropriate ways are chosen for fast progress
Research misconduct occurs due to inadequate training
Researchers should be trained in a way that they have minimal issues and errors in their results. When there is proper training, research objectives stay obvious, technical grounds are clear and deadlines are easily achieved.There are many researchers who lack basic skills. There should be a criteria of training researchers. They should be checked and corrected where needed. Seminars can be conducted and weekly sessions in order to see if the participants are doing well. Each participant should be allowed to seek help from other participants and supervisors if they need urgent support on an issue.
Research misconduct occurs due to factors such as age, gender, policies that are needed to manage reseacher’s behaviour and peer pressure
Age and gender also affect the research process. Many people find it difficult to study and explore more because of their old age and less activeness so they tend to be involved in research misconduct. Gender also plays a role in research misconduct. Females tend to face more difficulties in seeking experiments than males and sometimes males face issues in female based research topics. Along with this, there is a need for policies that manage the behaviour of researchers and along with that the peer pressure.
Research misconduct occurs due to personal circumstances
Personal circumstances may lead to research misconduct. A person gets so burdened by the research work and they only seek research work for the basis of a promotion, availing a super opportunity, green card, etc. In such circumstances when a person feels a lot of workload and pressure of doing things timely, they are involved in research misconduct intentionally or unintentionally.
Research misconduct occurs due to less support
Research requires commitment and some compromises but results are worth all hard work. You may be supported by family and friends or someone in order to spend your energy and time on research activities. Without the support, you lose hope and your research may suffer research misconduct.
Research misconduct occurs due to competitive pressures
If your promotion requires research work, you need to do it but you have no sense of interest or genuineness with your research subject then you may be caught in research misconduct.
Research misconduct occurs due to career and funding pressures
There are career pressures with the majority of the individuals. In most of the places, research is compulsory in order to achieve progression in career. People regardless of their interest, life issues and personal conflicts, start with the research. Some people also face funding issues during their research time period. Fundings are required in order to achieve access to useful resources either people or tools or something that assists in the research. As a result of such pressures, individuals face research misconduct in one or different ways.
Research misconduct occurs due to institutional failures
There are no specific but very general rules and policies on how the research activities should be carried out. If any institution fails to deliver them to the individuals, that may result in research misconduct by some of the participants due to lack of proper guidance by the institutes.
Research misconduct happens due to conflicts of interest
The purpose of research can be various but you should also see your interest in the subject. You might get into a tough condition where you may look for easy ways and misconduct the research.
Research misconduct happens due to individual psychology
Many people find shortcuts and use available work for their research purposes. Taking help is fine but when someone fabricates or plagiarizes information, that results in research misconduct. Some individuals want results without effort and so copy others’ work or create false findings. Research requires individual efforts, hard work and dedication. If there is anything that is missed out of these, the research step may go in the wrong direction. Many individuals are scared of failing so they do such things. Some researchers have wrong intentions behind their research. They want to impress their supervisors and so they indulge in falsification.
Research misconduct happens when there is social deviance
Due to deviance in society, there are several research related issues. People lacking facilities, broken families and other issues make them cut off from the research ground.
Research misconduct occurs due to environmental factors
Research misconduct may occur due to environmental factors such as temperature, food, etc.
Research misconduct occurs when there are poor standards of mentoring
People conducting research may have their mentors from industry or any organization who are pro in the domain of the research area. They are a special support and their guidance may be very helpful in carrying out the research activities but if the guidance is gone wrong, people may reach somewhere else and deviate from what was actually required or they may show negligence in the institutional or academic perspective. Choosing a qualified and experienced mentor is an art and a big support.
Research misconduct happens due to negligence and non seriousness of a person
A basic reason but a prominent one is the non serious behavior of an individual. An individual may fabricate and falsify data and information in their reports in order to get rid of all the efforts.
Research misconduct happens when people are non-supportive
Your research may require data from different hospitals or for example some IT companies but they may not allow you or expose their internal contacts with you. In such a case, it becomes very difficult for you to gather authentic data.
Research misconduct happens when there are tough deadlines
Individuals commit research misconduct when they fail to timely submit the research work. This is an important factor in the research misconduct.
Research misconduct happens when there is less knowledge
Knowledge of the research subject is key. Without proper knowledge on the research subject, you cannot write a proper research work.
Research misconduct happens when there is communication gap
Communication gap is a leading problem in various issues. In research, communication plays a vital role. You need to collect and gather information by visiting and searching for possible scenarios. Without communication it is not possible.
Research misconduct happens due to poor supervision
Proper supervision is required in order to conduct research.If there is any lack in supervision, results are affected. When the supervisor treats them badly, the participant may get scared and offended in some way and avoid sessions and discussions with the supervisor. A good supervision includes open discussions and guidance that supports to achieve stronger benchmarks. Errors are greatly identified and planning is made in order to solve them. Supervisor should have proper domain knowledge and information about the subject. They must be able to guide in accordance with what is asked of them. A poor supervision results in research misconduct.
Research misconduct happens when inappropriate ways are chosen for fast progress
Many individuals are in a hurry to get their submissions done and scared of lacking behind. Because of this reason, they fail to test and conduct fair research.
Conclusion
The above blogspot answered the question “what are the list of reasons for committing research misconduct”. We learned the list of reasons for committing research misconduct and discussed those in detail.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): List of reasons for committing research misconduct
Why does research misconduct happen?
Research misconduct occurs when an individual copies data, falsifies it or fabricates it in their research report. Research misconduct happens because of many reasons, some of them are as below:
- Career pressures make people involve in research misconduct
- Inability to do things
- Poor or inadequate training results in research misconduct
- Harsh or unskilled supervisors make research a mishap
- There is a psychology that without cheating you cannot do things right
- Some personal circumstances or situations make people do it
- There are competitive pressures of getting a higher position
- Lack of proper policies to see if the individual is going well and if there is any difficulty, must be solved.
What are the cons of research misconduct?
Research misconduct has a lot of cons. Some of the cons of research misconduct are:
- Individuals may lose federal funding if found culprit
- You might not be allowed to publish anything further if there is major misconduct
- A person may lose their job as a result of research misconduct
How to avoid research misconduct?
Research misconduct can be avoided in many ways. There are some ways research misconduct can be avoided:
- There must be strict policies on how the research should be conducted and governed
- Proper supervision should be done
- Testing standards must be followed
- Expectations should be set clearly for the process of research
- There should be a clear discussion on the time research activities will take
- A proper estimate and expectation of funding should be done
- The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) must be set up in order to report allegations timely.
