The findings of a study are paramount to scientific progress, but equally as important is the trust we feel we can place in such results. Research integrity refers to all those factors that build trust between scientists and the public: ethical principles, professional standards, and transparent practices. If any of these are not maintained, then the integrity of the study findings (and the researchers themselves) is threatened.
In this article, we’ll look at what research integrity means; its core principles and the responsibilities of researchers; and then common threats to research integrity, such as the reproducibility crisis in research and research misconduct; and how preprints support transparency, reproducibility, and trust in research.
What is research integrity?
Research integrity is a set of factors that define good research practice and conduct, such as ethical, professional, and transparency standards. Public trust in scientific research depends on these standards being met. Therefore, the practical maintenance of research integrity, as well as institutional and cultural advocacy for its philosophy, are vital.
All the components of research integrity are to be respected and applied during the entirety of the research lifecycle, from the initial research and planning through to the presentation of the results and dissemination of ideas.
Core principles
According to the UK Research Integrity Office (RIO), there are 5 core principles to research integrity:
- Honesty: This applies during all aspects of research, including planning, methods, data collection, credit, reporting, and interpretation.
- Rigour: Using appropriate methods, following protocols, interpreting data, drawing conclusions, and disseminating results.
- Transparency and open communication: Reporting full methods; publishing all results; sharing data, code, and materials; declaring conflicts of interest.
- Care and respect: For everything and everyone involved in research, including colleagues, other researchers, participants, animals, and the environment.
- Accountability: Of everyone involved in the research, including researchers, institutions, funding bodies, and publishers.
Practical responsibilities of researchers
Whilst the above core principles already outline some practical responsibilities of researchers, here is a list provided by the European Charter for Researchers:
- Research freedom
- Ethical principles
- Professional responsibility
- Professional attitude
- Contractual and legal obligations
- Accountability
- Good practice in research
- Dissemination, exploitation of results
- Public engagement
- Relationship with supervisors (and managers)
- Supervision and managerial duties
- Continuing professional development.
Threats to research integrity
Failing to follow good research practices may violate research integrity principles. Doing so may also harm research reproducibility, or go against other research ethics and professional standards. Understanding any threats to research integrity principles is important for maintaining trust in the study findings.
The reproducibility crisis
One fundamental aspect of research integrity is ensuring that scientific findings are valid. This involves scientists independently reproducing with a high degree of reliability the findings of another study. This is known as reproducibility in research.
To reproduce consistent data and results in other studies, independent authors must have access to standardised and transparent methods, data, code, and computational processes.
The emergence of the reproducibility crisis in the 2010s highlighted the ongoing struggle independent researchers face when it comes to reproducing the findings of previously published studies. There was a growing awareness around this struggle, with many studies about the reproducibility of other studies increasingly appearing online. The general consensus was that, even with methodologies being followed strictly by independent researchers, widely different results were not uncommon.
But what is the root cause of the reproducibility crisis? Well, it does not have one cause. It is the result of many intersecting factors, such as issues around study designs, lack of reporting transparency, publication bias, and a ‘publish or perish’ culture.
How preprints improve reproducibility
Preprints are early versions of scholarly articles supported by a robust open science framework. Importantly, preprints offer an answer to the persistence of the reproducibility crisis in various ways:
- Data and methods can be immediately scrutinised by scientists around the world via an open review process, potentially addressing issues around study design flaws;
- Big publishers tend to only favour studies demonstrating positive results, but studies with ‘negative’ or ‘null’ results can still be published as a preprint, avoiding publication bias;
- All data associated with a submission must be made available where there are no legal or confidentiality constraints in doing so.
Whilst preprints are not a complete solution to the reproducibility crisis, they are part of a wider open science toolkit that can help maintain research integrity in the long run.
Research misconduct
Not all threats to research integrity are from the lack of systematic and standard research practices. Research integrity can be undermined by intentionally violating ethical and professional standards, commonly referred to as research misconduct.
Research misconduct refers to a breach of ethical or professional standards during the research or reporting processes. It is a direct threat to research integrity, which upholds the values and expectations of science conducted by professionals and national bodies, often for the benefit of the public. There are three different types of research misconduct:
- Fabrication: Making up of data or results and reporting them as if they were true.
- Falsification: Manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or purposefully altering data or results to falsify the research record.
- Plagiarism: Appropriating other people’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving credit.
Research misconduct often results in typical consequences for researchers, institutions, and the public record. Some of these consequences include reputational damage, loss of funding eligibility, administrative and legal costs for prolonged investigations, and diminished trust from the public and larger scientific community.
It is paramount that all necessary parties practice responsible conduct of research to uphold research integrity.
Preprints.org and research integrity
Here at Preprints.org, we make sure that the right open science infrastructure is in place to further support research integrity.
Prior to posting, a screening process is undertaken to ensure that content adheres to basic publishing ethics, and that the authors comply with international research ethics regulations.
Preprints.org adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines. Within these guidelines, plagiarism, data fabrication, and image manipulation are all forbidden, and manuscripts that violate these ethical standards may be rejected or withdrawn.
Preprints are also more flexible than peer-reviewed articles when it comes to addressing ethical oversights and honest errors identified post-publication. Whereas peer-reviewed articles may need to be withdrawn completely, posted preprints are free to be revised and updated through a process called versioning. Each new version is assigned a unique DOI, preserving the integrity of the research record.
To read more about Preprints.org and research integrity, see our other articles on research integrity in the AI era and the importance of ethics policies.
