Research ethics

Universities and government should use ‘tracker’ to screen research ties, grants and visa applications

The apparent proliferation of libel challenges by scientists accused of research misconduct have led to fears that journals and others will be dissuaded from calling out wrongdoers. But is the observation accurate? And is the chilling effect reproducible? Jack Grove reports  

Journal's investigation exonerates fish researcher, who has previous retraction to her name

With 30 retractions so far and counting, experts say former Swinburne scientist exemplifies the need to screen research articles

Tough sanctions on institutions that ignore research integrity rules in new concordat backed by Universities UK and research funders

Collaborators criticise lack of sanction against Anna Lora-Wainwright, but internal investigation finds she did not intend to deceive

‘Overblown’ media reports focus on state control over students and perils of joint research

Senior co-author says he ‘forgot’ to add reference to overlapping paper

Improved citation performance amid falling funding is the result of gaming, say Alberto Baccini, Eugenio Petrovich and Giuseppe De Nicolao

Bath researchers seek to combine scholarly rigour with campaigning zeal

It is unfair and dangerous that, unlike academics, researchers in the private sector operate with no ethical oversight, says Ron Iphofen

Consultation raised concerns that proposal was too prescriptive and bureaucratic

Science’s decision sparks debate about how journals should respond to concerns about reproducibility

UK’s exit removes a ‘powerful brake’ against extreme ideas at a time of increased lobbying, say experts 

Institutions largely silent over how they allowed their researchers to take financier's funding, despite his interest in eugenics and 2008 sex conviction

Male guitarists may be disappointed to learn that a study showing they are more attractive to women may be unsound

Europe and Japan take different approach to US and China on potential risks of technology

Martin Keck, who led the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry’s hospital, is being investigated by Munich’s public prosecutor

Overstating the value of an intervention could put patients at risk, say researchers

‘Hong Kong Principles’ aim to tackle ‘perverse incentives’ in metrics-based policies and university promotion criteria

The ‘best’ scientists lack time for peer review, and academics should be rated for ‘worthy’ papers, argues Dan Shechtman

Uclan joins University of Cape Town in adopting rules to stamp out export of unethical research practices to poorer countries

Only a quarter of biology conferences set rules on attendee behaviour and penalties for misconduct are even rarer, study finds

Misconduct at root of only a fraction of complaints in Australia, study finds

Embedded integrity practices sustained knowledge systems that have evolved for millennia, says RMIT leader

Umbrella body for research councils accepts MPs’ call for organisation to monitor whether universities carry out misconduct investigations properly

Private funders and charitable foundations urged to support vital studies

Holding ‘probably innocent’ co-authors responsible for research wrongdoing cannot be justified, say academics

Nepotism and the isolation of war have left Kosovo’s oldest university battling poor research standards, but transparency campaigners hope this is changing

Call follows revelations about Coca-Cola’s influence over some sponsored research

Peter Ridd’s victory in unfair dismissal case raises questions about limits of scientific consensus

Aftershocks continue amid new revelations of fabrication

Marine biologist Oona Lönnstedt has gone to ground in Sweden after being found to have fabricated data

When credible concerns emerge about research validity, universities and journals must move quickly, writes John Ross

Philosopher calls on universities to take AI debate ‘out of the hands of the industry’ and end ‘ethics washing’

Retractions in Nature and Science follow Abderrahmane Kaidi’s resignation from Bristol

Montenegro becomes one of the first countries to outlaw not only plagiarism, but also donation of authorship and fabrication of research results

University said to have known of problems with lab technician’s faked data for several years

Martin Heidingsfelder, who has helped bring down several political high-fliers, still thinks there are plagiarists at the very top of German politics

Marketisation, precarity and global competition have combined to create a vast market for academic ghostwriting, says an anonymous scholar

This growing but still unacknowledged phenomenon in higher education is badly in need of ethical oversight, says an anonymous academic

Diana Mitlin, professor of global urbanism at the University of Manchester, shares her tips on working with politicians and government officials

After years of asking, National Academy of Sciences makes integrity push across university silos

Simon Baker examines the rise of China as a research nation and the worries this provokes among some Westerners

Australian researchers say a lack of guidance material forces researchers to second-guess ethics committees

New £5.7 million institute at the Technical University of Munich triggers ‘ethics washing’ debate

Tributes paid to leading research integrity expert

Portland State University’s investigation of a researcher who published hoax papers misses the point of ethical oversight, says Jeffrey Flier

Despite widespread recognition of prevalence of errors in psychological research, academics remain reluctant to own up to their errors

New European rule on protecting data from human research subjects being found so complicated as to slow medical science

Scientists must act in wake of He Jiankui case, say US and Chinese leaders, to avoid ‘rash or hasty political reaction’

Increased statistical evaluation will pinpoint the educational ‘treatments’ that work, says Yidan prizewinner

Long-running investigation into David Latchman’s UCL laboratory finds evidence of deliberate research misconduct, but concludes he was unaware of it

Societies must ‘regain control’ over gene editing technology, says expert

Sponsors that do not meet rules should have ethical approval for future experiments withheld, says Science and Technology Committee

Strathclyde education lecturer calls for other academics to speak out

Legal experts say EU’s data protection laws could ‘hamper research progress’ between two regions

German academics have uncovered thousands of suspected abusers in a landmark project. But should they have had a freer hand?

Thirty-two academic institutions have so far failed to report any of their trial data in accordance with new European Union rules

A move to combat India’s love affair with predatory journals is an encouraging sign – even if it took a newspaper exposé to prompt it, says Pushkar