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Fostering a common culture
of research integrity

Scientific Watch

Research on research integrity has been growing since the early 1990s. From theoretical reflections on its definition to empirical studies on the incidence of misconduct, research integrity is becoming a proper research subject in several academic fields.

As part of its Resources mission, Ofis reviews every month the latest publications on research integrity. The results of this watch are summarised in a monthly bulletin that reflects the diversity of approaches, methods and disciplines that are mobilised.

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Bulletin n° 8 - October 2023

Focus of the month 

  • Scientific journals: find the clones

See also

  • Publication bias and p-hacking in  empirical studies in psychology.
  • Chronology of research integrity in France.

Bulletins

Find below all the bulletins on research on research integrity. 

N° 7

September 2023

Focus: Looking at the integrity of highly cited papers

N° 6

Summer 2023

Focus: Clinical trials – battle against zombies

N° 5

June 2023

Focus: Who are the researchers publishing in predatory journals?

N° 4

May 2023

Focus: Retracted, but still cited

N° 3

April 2023

Focus: Benford’s Law and scientific publishing

(only available in French) 

N° 2

March 2023

Focus : Ending ‘helicopter’ research 

(only available in French) 

N° 1

February 2023

Focus : Safeguarding science from political meddling

(only available in French) 

N° 0

January 2023

Focus: ChatGPT and pressure to publish

(only available in French) 

Methods

Keywords related to scientific integrity and related fields (research integrity, responsible conduct of research, etc.) are used in 4 databases (EBSCO, Web of Science, Science Direct and Europresse).

The search is performed in both French and English.

Based on the reading of titles and abstracts, all scientific papers addressing research integrity matters are being considered. Opinions from researchers and preprints are also taken into account.

The primary objective of this scientific watch is to give visibility to research on research integrity. Not all the articles cited are necessarily read in full.  We share articles even when they are not in open access.

This strategy is completed by the addition of relevant references cited in the selected papers or identified in parallel. Using an alert system, papers are often identified a few weeks/months after publication. Therefore, bulletins may refer to articles published before the current month.

Scientific watch requires processing a large number of papers and does not allow us to assess the editorial practices of each journal. If the practices of any of them seem questionable to you, do not hesitate to report it.

For more information about the scientific watch or to receive our bulletins, please contact nathalie.voarino@ofis-france.fr