Research ethics

After claims of image manipulation in papers by Marc Tessier-Lavigne, neuroscientist promises vindication amid signs of faculty unease

Leading US public institution found by news investigation to still hold bones of 9,000 people, most in nation, more than three decades after federal ban

Students often have no choice but to include professors who have had no input into papers as co-authors, says Roohola Ramezani

Leading scientists ‘appalled’ to find sham papers have been attributed to them say case against UK-registered publishers is overdue

Many sources of scrutiny already exist, but the idea of a perfect research project is an unattainable fantasy, says Andrew Barnas

Ombudsmen need more resources and voluntary investigators need recognition if fabrication is finally to be taken seriously, says sleuth

Accusations of plagiarism regarding a sacred medieval book have led to an extraordinary dispute involving online threats and allegations that staff and offices were invented

Identifying deception often requires analysis of patterns across large collections of articles. Publishers must work together, says David McDade

Fraud and fabrication are not rarities, suggests Australian survey of early career scholars

Plos puts warnings on almost 50 papers after alleged reuse of ethical approvals, undeclared conflicts of interest and publication rates equivalent to an article every three days  

Governance of data science research makes it difficult to highlight potentially harmful impacts that might arise, says ethics review report

Outside experts see potential problems in decades-old papers where Tessier-Lavigne served as a co-author, although any potential responsibility seems far from clear

Clarivate warns of efforts to ‘game the system and create self-generated status’

A researcher may have aided Iran’s nuclear weapons programme with unauthorised access, but his sentence was softened due to ‘deficient’ university routines

Many reacted to Karl Andersson’s autoethnography on cartoon child porn by asking how it could have been allowed to go ahead. But amid doubts about who it harmed and ongoing concerns about research bureaucracy, many are wary of a further ramping-up of ethics procedures. Jack Grove reports

Tenfold increase in article output should be a research integrity ‘red flag’ for publishers, says Cambridge researcher Nick Wise

New York-based manga comic expert claims withdrawal of Karl Andersson’s controversial paper may ‘stifle innovation and scholarship’ in future

‘Fluffy rationale’, ‘uncooked records’ and ‘kidney disappointment’ are among the nonsensical terms that have exposed bogus scientific papers

Research fraudbuster says publication of six papers with hallmarks of Russian paper mills indicates why periodicals must commit to more post-submission transparency

Prosecutors reportedly probing alleged forgery and ‘several serious breaches’ of clinical research rules after report by regulator

Vice-president Nalin Thakkar says inconsistencies regarding PhD student’s article have been flagged with police as MP condemns ‘genuinely disgusting’ research

University report alleges students were charged extra fees in dentistry school, but faculty see racial politics and retaliation over whistleblowing

The regulations can be ambiguous, but the masturbation paper furore is a result of supervisors’ and reviewers’ lack of vigilance, says Michelle Shipworth

In holdover from print-dominant era, top 330 academic science titles too often seen as banning or hindering published rebuttals of their articles

Karl Andersson has long attracted controversy over his interest in sexually suggestive images of teenage boys, so did university investigate this?

Sage says it is continuing to investigate article in which doctoral candidate chronicles how he ‘enjoyed’ provocative cartoon images of boys

‘Wanking is not a research method; it is just wanking,’ says professor, as doctoral candidate chronicles how he ‘enjoyed’ provocative cartoon images of boys

As Science retracts a paper by a second James Cook alumnus, critics ask where they learned their craft

DFG advisory group says opposition to animal use comes from ‘fundamental misjudgements’ and that falling usage figures ‘say nothing’ about welfare

Successful replication efforts heavily tied to whether original research team allowed a role, finds study of contentious psychology field

Australian book weighs the ethics of evolving research techniques, including the downsides of drones and selfies with animals

Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania hold up state’s budget as part of demand that university gets no money if valued research involving aborted tissue persists

Copenhagen doctoral candidate Maria Toft explains how her campaign has led to sector-wide calls for research reform in Denmark

Disgraced surgeon convicted of causing bodily harm in verdict that raises further questions for Swedish research

Low-quality studies waste resources, abuse patients and undermine trust in science. Ethics committees should be more stringent, says Edzard Ernst

Australian survey finds that internal training focuses on things staff already know, like how to define research integrity, rather than practical skills to achieve it

Over-possessive scholars may resort to foul play to protect their research domains, say postdocs

Man came forward to report sexual reorientation practices he endured on campus in the 1970s

Cureus founder says name-and-shame policy could cause hardship but is justified by threat to patient safety from fraud

As president vows to lower drug prices, academia sides with corporates against allowing waivers to legislation credited with driving US innovation

Members lack expertise and groupthink is a constant peril. Better to entrust scrutiny to expert lawyers and ethicists, says Adrian Furnham

Findings from Dutch confessional covering methods, supervision and publishing likely to be repeated in other countries, authors say

Emilia Şercan has exposed a vast array of senior public officials for plagiarising their theses, writes Július Kravjar

Penalties for student snitches and curbs on Confucius Institutes and Thousand Talents Programme among dozens of recommendations from security committee

Genetics expert Magnuson leaves vice-chancellor post saying he inadvertently copied online text into grant application

New guidelines for undergraduates to properly treat their study subjects fuels debate over net gain for science

Agencies must agree on ‘demarcation line’ for questionable behaviour and mete out consistent punishment, Science paper says

Around one in 12 postgraduate researchers would publish fraudulent results if it helped them get ahead, says study

The grip of Silicon Valley on commerce and culture is huge and ever-growing. But as concerns mount about tech firms’ ethics, is there anything that universities – with vastly lower research and salary budgets – can do to put them on a more responsible trajectory? Four experts give their views

About one in 20 recent academic papers is a duplicate, with some articles being recycled as many as 27 times in different publications

Long-time postdoctoral scientist says he was ousted when he complained a professor had appropriated his own research

As the pandemic increases public scrutiny of science, the UK Parliament is holding another inquiry into the long-running issue of reproducibility. Five of its contributors give their views on how sloppy science can be eliminated and trust be more firmly rooted 

Firms that sell co-authorship on papers accepted by reputable journals are likely turning over millions of pounds a year

Biden team aims to block Trump-era political interference in research findings, although its top adviser faces her own such questions

Experts warn of dangerous abandonment of long-standing ethical limits in pursuits of human vaccines and wildlife management

Jury takes three hours to agree nanoscience expert lied about Wuhan ties to sidestep pressure campaign against binational research partnerships

Along with blocking faculty court testimony, university allegedly also courted state politicians by interfering in hiring, research and teaching

NIH vows shifts after years-long assessment finds top-cited scientists rarely share data and measure up poorly when they do

Elisabeth Bik wins John Maddox Prize for exposing image and data manipulation in published scientific papers

Close relationships between journal boards and most-published authors may explain speedy publishing times, says study