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Research Misconduct in the Croatian Scientific Community: A Survey Assessing the Forms and Characteristics of Research Misconduct

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Abstract

The prevalence and characteristics of research misconduct have mainly been studied in highly developed countries. In moderately or poorly developed countries such as Croatia, data on research misconduct are scarce. The primary aim of this study was to determine the rates at which scientists report committing or observing the most serious forms of research misconduct, such as falsification , fabrication, plagiarism, and violation of authorship rules in the Croatian scientific community. Additionally, we sought to determine the degree of development and the extent of implementation of the system for defining and regulating research misconduct in a typical scientific community in Croatia. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed among 1232 Croatian scientists at the University of Rijeka in 2012/2013 and 237 (19.2 %) returned the survey. Based on the respondents who admitted having committed research misconduct, 9 (3.8 %) admitted to plagiarism, 22 (9.3 %) to data falsification, 9 (3.8 %) to data fabrication, and 60 (25.3 %) respondents admitted to violation of authorship rules. Based on the respondents who admitted having observed research misconduct of fellow scientists, 72 (30.4 %) observed plagiarism, 69 (29.1 %) observed data falsification, 46 (19.4 %) observed data fabrication, and 132 (55.7 %) respondents admitted having observed violation of authorship rules. The results of our study indicate that the efficacy of the system for managing research misconduct in Croatia is poor. At the University of Rijeka there is no document dedicated exclusively to research integrity, describing the values that should be fostered by a scientist and clarifying the forms of research misconduct and what constitutes a questionable research practice. Scientists do not trust ethical bodies and the system for defining and regulating research misconduct; therefore the observed cases of research misconduct are rarely reported. Finally, Croatian scientists are not formally educated about responsible conduct of research at any level of their formal education. All mentioned indicate possible reasons for higher rates of research misconduct among Croatian scientists in comparison with scientists in highly developed countries.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Elvio Baccarini, president of the Council of Honor of the University of Rijeka, on his constructive advice for designing the survey questionnaire and Dr. Aleksandra Mišak and Elizabeth Hughes Komljen for excellent language consultations.

Funding

The study is part of two research projects: “Acceptance and awareness of the principles of research ethics of University of Rijeka scientists” (Project Number: 3%-12-33) funded by the University of Rijeka and “Attitude toward scientific plagiarism, its prevalence and characteristics” (Project Number: 13.06.1.2.29) funded by the University of Rijeka Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Vanja Pupovac & Mladen Petrovečki

  2. Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Sveučilišna avenija 4, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Snježana Prijić-Samaržija

  3. Department of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, Dubrava Clinical Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia

    Mladen Petrovečki

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  1. Vanja Pupovac
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Correspondence to Vanja Pupovac.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 5, 6 and 7.

Table 5 Answers of scientists to question about steps they took regarding research misconduct observed in colleagues
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Table 6 Answers of scientists to question about the recognized authorities in the field of research integrity
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Table 7 Answers of scientists to the question about their education in research integrity
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Pupovac, V., Prijić-Samaržija, S. & Petrovečki, M. Research Misconduct in the Croatian Scientific Community: A Survey Assessing the Forms and Characteristics of Research Misconduct. Sci Eng Ethics 23, 165–181 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-016-9767-0

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