title: Perceptions of Chinese Biomedical Researchers Towards Academic Misconduct: A Comparison Between 2015 and 2010.
abstract: Publications by Chinese researchers in scientific journals have dramatically increased over the past decade; however, academic misconduct also becomes more prevalent in the country. The aim of this prospective study was to understand the perceptions of Chinese biomedical researchers towards academic misconduct and the trend from 2010 to 2015. A questionnaire comprising 10 questions was designed and then validated by ten biomedical researchers in China. In the years 2010 and 2015, respectively, the questionnaire was sent as a survey to biomedical researchers at teaching hospitals, universities, and medical institutes in mainland China. Data were analyzed by the Chi squared test, one-way analysis of variance with the Tukey post hoc test, or Spearman's rank correlation method, where appropriate. The overall response rates in 2010 and 2015 were 4.5% (446/9986) and 5.5% (832/15,127), respectively. Data from 15 participants in 2010 were invalid, and analysis was thus performed for 1263 participants. Among the participants, 54.7% thought that academic misconduct was serious-to-extremely serious, and 71.2% believed that the Chinese authorities paid no or little attention to the academic misconduct. Moreover, 70.2 and 65.2% of participants considered that the punishment for academic misconduct at the authority and institution levels, respectively, was not appropriate or severe enough. Inappropriate authorship and plagiarism were the most common forms of academic misconduct. The most important factor underlying academic misconduct was the academic assessment system, as judged by 50.7% of the participants. Participants estimated that 40.1% (39.8 ± 23.5% in 2010; 40.2 ± 24.5% in 2015) of published scientific articles were associated with some form of academic misconduct. Their perceptions towards academic misconduct had not significantly changed over the 5 years. Reform of the academic assessment system should be the fundamental approach to tackling this problem in China.
authors.affiliation: Medjaden Bioscience Limited, Room 2001-4, China Insurance Group Building, 141 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Jiao
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, West China School of Preclinical and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yuan-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Liver Diseases, Liver Research Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Hua
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Whiteley-Martin Research Centre, Discipline of Surgery, Sydney Medical School Nepean, Penrith, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Guy D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Eslick
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xing-Xiang
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Medjaden Bioscience Limited, Room 2001-4, China Insurance Group Building, 141 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Bing
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Medjaden Bioscience Limited, Room 2001-4, China Insurance Group Building, 141 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong, China. xiaharry@hotmail.com.|Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong, China. xiaharry@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Harry Hua-Xiang
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Medjaden Bioscience Limited, Room 2001-4, China Insurance Group Building, 141 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong, China. selin@medjaden.com.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7756-1039
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001319:Authorship; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics*; D002681:China; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006076:Government; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015714:Plagiarism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011643:Publishing / Q000941:ethics*; D012108:Research Personnel; D015871:Scientific Misconduct; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Academic assessment; Academic misconduct; Inappropriate authorship; Plagiarism; Questionnaire