Guarantee academic integrity and build an open scientific research ecosystem
September 13, 2024 09:38 Source: "China Social Sciences Journal" Issue 2977, September 13, 2024 Author: Our reporter Ren Guanhong

In the field of academic research,Ensuring research integrity and promoting transparency have become key issues。In order to explore related issues in depth,Our reporter interviewed two scholars who have been working in this field for many years: Professor of the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia、Brian Nosek, co-founder and director of the Center for Open Science, and Tamarinde Haven, assistant professor of research methodology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, the Netherlands。Nosek talks about how open science can improve the overall quality and reliability of research by preventing academic misconduct;Hawen discussed how to use strategies such as open data and pre-registration to effectively promote scientific research cooperation、Reducing academic misconduct。The insights of two experts provide important perspectives and solutions for the current academic community to deal with integrity challenges,It has reference significance for promoting the improvement of scientific research environment。

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"China Social Sciences Journal": As an advocate of promoting open science and improving research transparency,What role do the two think relevant measures can play in preventing and detecting academic misconduct?

Nosek:Open science cannot completely prevent academic fraud,But it can make it more difficult to commit academic fraud,And make it easier to detect。In a closed academic environment,Cheating is relatively easy,Because researchers only need to write a persuasive paper。However,If data can be realized、Sharing of data and code analysis,And through pre-registration, researchers can provide research plans before starting their research,The difficulty of academic fraud will be greatly increased,The probability of detecting academic misconduct will also increase。Of course,I believe that most scientific researchers uphold an academic attitude of integrity,Do your best to carry out research work。The most important goal of open science is to help researchers who really want to do good research,Let their efforts be seen by more people,Improve the quality and influence of its academic achievements。

  Haven:Enhancing openness and transparency in research,Can effectively prevent academic misconduct。For example,Independent third-party researchers can verify the underlying research data or links and pre-registered research protocols,To determine whether the results of the paper or research report are based on real data,And whether there is an issue with selective use of data。This helps detect academic misconduct。In addition,The normalization of data sharing and pre-registered research protocols means that other researchers can check a research result at any time,Thus also helps prevent academic misconduct。After all,The more people see it,The easier it is to detect misconduct such as "selective reporting" and "passing secondary results as primary results"。

 "China Social Sciences Journal": What tools or strategies that comply with the principles of open science can help researchers and institutions improve academic integrity?

Nosek:We advocate "Lifecycle Open Science",This refers to maintaining openness and transparency at all stages of research – from initial conceptual planning to dissemination and application of findings。If you wish to make the research process as open as possible,The following measures can be considered,Includes pre-registration before study begins、Disclosure of research plans and methods,These two help clarify which analyzes were planned,Avoid selective use of data or data manipulation during research;You can also require scientific researchers to provide information during and after the research,Disclose all data supporting research whenever possible、Experimental materials and code。Research results should also be published as publicly as possible,Papers can be released as preprints prior to peer review,Can also be published as an open access article after official publication,To ensure that no matter which journal the paper is published in,Free access for all。

 Haven:Researchers are recommended to pre-register when appropriate for their research practices。During pre-registration process,Researchers should “mark time nodes”,Questions to study by yourself、Publish the design and analysis plan and other content,So that others can see the complete research protocol。Currently,There are pre-registration templates suitable for various fields。In addition,It is recommended that scientific research institutions should not only focus on training young junior scientific researchers,Also ensure that senior senior researchers receive appropriate training in research ethics and open science。Senior researchers are often viewed as role models by junior researchers。Therefore,If senior scientific researchers can play a guiding role in their daily work,It will effectively enhance the scientific research responsibility of junior scientific researchers,Inspire them to uphold academic integrity,Put an end to inappropriate behavior。

  Systematically improve the scientific research evaluation mechanism

"China Social Sciences Journal": What motivates you to work on solving the problems of research reproducibility and scientific research integrity in academia?

Nosek:For me,Enter the field of scientific research out of curiosity for knowledge and enthusiasm for open cooperation。However,The current academic evaluation system does not value these。I found,Many scientific researchers often face the dilemma of choosing between academic values ​​and career development in their actual work。In fact,In many cases,In order to obtain a position in the fierce competition、Funding and Recognition,Researchers may have to take actions that are contrary to their original intentions and values。This phenomenon indicates that the current scientific research system is dysfunctional。After realizing this,I hope to improve the current academic research environment,Enable scientific researchers to truly act in accordance with correct academic values,Thus promoting the long-term development of science。

 Haven:During academic and research career,One thing shocked me,That is, it is not necessarily the thirst for knowledge that motivates scientists to engage in research,And it is often those things that can directly make them recognized。I also heard that sometimes it is the junior researchers who actually do the actual work,But they were not listed as authors in the end。I always thought we could do better。No matter it is an individual,Still a scientific research institution,Everyone should do more to strengthen academic integrity。Can better encourage researchers to challenge their limits、Fuze Society’s Scientific Ecosystem,This is a well-functioning scientific ecosystem。Therefore,When a PhD position is posted with a primary focus on academic integrity,I submitted the application without hesitation。Since then,I have been engaged in related work,Also achieved personal growth and conducted deep reflection。I hope our training and resources can help research institutions improve their academic integrity,Improve the research environment;We also look forward to the long-term impact of our team’s research results on the academic community,Raise awareness of the importance of research reproducibility and scientific integrity。

 "China Social Sciences Journal": In view of the increasing concerns about research reproducibility in the academic community,How to ensure the reliability of scientific discoveries?

Nosek:Currently,The reward mechanism for scientific researchers mainly focuses on the papers they publish。And whether a paper can be published,Mainly depends on whether the research results are novel、Is it constructive enough。Under the strong stimulation of this mechanism,Some researchers blindly pursue “publishable” results,Even at the expense of the quality and reliability of research results。

In response to this problem,The most critical solution is to improve the rigor of the research、Quality and repeatability considerations are incorporated into the reward mechanism。For example,In Publish "Registered Report" mode,Researchers before getting the research results,The research proposal should be submitted to peer review。The evaluation criteria for peer review include the scientific merit of the research proposal、Methodological rigor、Importance of the research question。If the research plan passes the review,The journal will promise,After the study is completed,Regardless of whether the final result is as expected,will be published。This model can fundamentally change the tendency of journals to Bet365 app download "only publish research results that are sufficiently novel or subversive",Thus encouraging researchers to conduct high-quality research on important issues。It can be seen from this,This model can effectively curb “result-oriented” research,Help improve the quality and credibility of scientific research。

 Haven:The measure I suggest is to systematically change the incentive mechanism for scientific researchers,Researchers should be encouraged to conduct in-depth and reliable research。In this regard,The EU has an interesting organization called the “Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment” (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment,CoARA for short)。Currently,Nearly 750 scientific research organizations have signed the alliance agreement,In order to reshape the way of evaluating scientific researchers。The first principle of this agreement is,“Ensuring ethics and integrity are the highest priority,Never compromise for any incentives”。The agreement also makes quite specific provisions,To ensure that when evaluating scientific researchers,Focus on the quality of its research,Rather than simply evaluating researchers based on their number of publications or the impact factor of the journals in which they published。

  Open and interdisciplinary collaboration among peers

Helps strengthen scientific research integrity

"China Social Sciences Journal": Academic transparency and openness promote cooperation and combat plagiarism、What role can data fraud and other aspects play?

Nosek:An open research culture is more inclusive。Over the past ten years,The success of many large-scale collaborative projects can be attributed to the organizers’ openness from the start,Cooperators from all fields are widely welcome to join,Work together。These are the exciting parts of research culture。A single tree cannot make a forest,The larger the size、Complex research project,The more teamwork is needed。At the same time,Transparency is a necessary factor in assessing the quality of research, including misconduct,It does not guarantee quality,Rather reveal quality。

 Haven:Promoting academic transparency and openness can serve two purposes。On the one hand,Increasing openness among colleagues can promote collaboration。If researchers know what their colleagues are working on,It will be easier to find where you can contribute。Same,If researchers remain open to their own work (including ongoing projects that need help),Their colleagues are also more likely to initiate cooperation。Compared to a research culture “full of secrecy and competition”,An open and cooperative atmosphere is obviously more conducive to every scientific researcher。

Here,I would like to use my own personal experience as an example。There is a tradition among our colleagues,Before your paper is pre-registered and sent for peer review,will be circulated to each other,This requires considerable openness。Although sometimes colleagues do not necessarily agree with each other’s research work,But this openness helps prevent plagiarism。Of course,This also requires that all colleagues have a general understanding of the same key documents,And it is not easy to achieve this。

On the other hand,By learning about colleagues’ work,It will be easier for everyone to tell whether there are problems with research results。This is because in an open scientific research culture,Everyone knows what everyone is doing,And may also help each other in some ways。This will make counterfeiting more difficult。Past,Many research projects are completed by a single researcher。Even with some assistants involved in the research,But assistants are usually dependent on the researchers who lead the project in terms of financial income or career prospects。In this mode,Some people can always find loopholes、Fake data。

 "China Social Sciences Journal": In what ways can interdisciplinary cooperation prevent academic misconduct?What measures can scientific research institutions take to enhance scientific research integrity?

Nosek:The main challenge facing interdisciplinary collaboration is coordination issues。There are many roles that can influence scientific researchers,Include their workplace、Journals that allow them to publish their results、Their funders and local scientific research culture, etc.。These factors are critical in shaping the norms and standards of research integrity。Therefore,All parties need to work together,Clear standards for high-quality research,And establish corresponding support and reward mechanisms。

Havin:Interdisciplinary collaboration can play a positive role in promoting academic integrity,Because some disciplines may have explored ways to effectively prevent misconduct and enhance research reproducibility。For example,A scholar in computer science recently told me,He served as a code reviewer at a conference。Only if he can reproduce the findings presented in the abstract,This paper will be accepted by the conference organizer。This approach may also be effective in promoting research integrity in other disciplines。

 (Weng Rong also contributed to this article)

Editor: Zhang Jing
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