Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven , Leuven , Belgium.
Department of Medical Humanities, Southeast University , China.
Account Res. 2019 Oct;26(7):405-426. doi: 10.1080/08989621.2019.1652096. Epub 2019 Aug 10.
Research misconduct has been a threat to Chinese biomedical research. Despite many publications dealing with research integrity in China, little empirical data is available concerning Chinese biomedical researchers' perceptions of research integrity and misconduct. To learn more about this issue, we interviewed Chinese biomedical researchers in Europe to investigate their perceptions of this issue. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants until data saturation was reached. The findings indicate that certain aspects of research integrity need elaboration among Chinese biomedical researchers. Participants had a vague understanding of general concepts related to research integrity. Data fabrication, data falsification and plagiarism were perceived as the most severe deviance. Inappropriate authorship (especially gift authorship) and ghost writing were regarded as the most prevalent types of research misconduct in Chinese biomedical research. The harms of certain practices, such as inappropriate authorship, salami publication and multiple submission, were not well recognized. Attitudes toward research misconduct were divided. The current scientific evaluation system, pressures of promotion, motives for fame and other factors were perceived as the main reasons for research misconduct. Participants suggested various measures in addition to existing safeguards to improve research integrity in Chinese biomedical research.
研究不端行为一直是中国生物医学研究的威胁。尽管有许多关于中国研究诚信的出版物，但关于中国生物医学研究人员对研究诚信和不端行为的看法的实证数据却很少。为了更多地了解这个问题，我们在欧洲采访了中国生物医学研究人员，以调查他们对这个问题的看法。对 25 名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，直到达到数据饱和。研究结果表明，中国生物医学研究人员需要对某些研究诚信方面进行阐述。参与者对与研究诚信相关的一般概念的理解很模糊。数据捏造、数据伪造和剽窃被认为是最严重的违规行为。不适当的署名（特别是赠品署名）和 ghostwriting 被认为是中国生物医学研究中最常见的研究不端行为类型。对某些做法的危害，如不适当的署名、萨拉米式发表和多次提交，认识不足。对研究不端行为的态度存在分歧。现行的科学评价体系、晋升压力、名利动机等因素被认为是研究不端行为的主要原因。参与者除了现有的保障措施外，还提出了各种改进中国生物医学研究诚信的措施。
