Auditing published papers (part I)

After they have been published, I audit research papers. 

Image by @freepik

Why? How does that work? 😕

A new revised version of The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ECCRI) has been produced by Allea, and recognised by the European Commission, one of the world's largest research funding bodies.

This revision focuses on a heightened awareness of issues pertaining to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), but also the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and even Open Science.

I know.. too much legal speak, too many acronyms... 😬

So, let me sum it up for you. 🔊

All institutions, organizations, and individuals that engage in or interact with research must always abide by the principles of:

  • Honesty

  • Respect  

  • Reliability  

  • Accountability 


Simple enough, right? Humm..

I analyse papers that have been flagged as "of concern". 😟

The issues I most commonly see have to do with lack of funding or data availability statements, inappropriate citations, and lack of clarity regarding the purpose of the study.

The most severe cases lack statements regarding ethical approval for studies involving people or animals, and/or informed consent to participate or publish. 😒

When authors can not provide these elements after they have been contacted by the publisher, the paper will be retracted.

If wilful misconduct is found, the paper will be retracted.

You get the gist... If you are serious about your research, get serious about your writing.

Good writing can appease a lot of these issues.

 

So, the ECCRI we were talking about above 👆

I'll focus mainly on what's important for publications:

  • Formal agreement on the sequence of authorship and acknowledgement of those that do not qualify for authorship

  • Disclosure of conflicts of interest and sources of funding.

  • Authors will be given credit if corrections are issued when prompted by a post-publication audit.

  • Negative results are results. Always submit them for publication.

  • Be clear regarding your assumptions, remaining uncertainties, and knowledge gaps. 

  • These criteria will be upheld in preprint servers as well as in all other publication forms.

 

Stay tuned for part II, where I'll talk about peer reviewing in research.

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