Knowra Research misconduct Research misconduct Research misconduct is the fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of research, including proposing, performing, reviewing, or reporting it. Honest errors and differences of opinion are excluded.
Fabrication (science) : Making up data or results and recording or reporting them as genuine. Fabrication is one of the three core forms of research misconduct.
Retraction : A public withdrawal of a published scholarly work because its findings or publication record are unreliable or compromised. A retraction can alert the literature when misconduct undermines a publication.
Andrew Wakefield : A British former physician whose 1998 paper linking the MMR vaccine to autism was retracted amid findings of serious ethical and methodological problems. The case illustrates how flawed research can distort public understanding even after retraction.
Questionable research practices : Research practices that can bias or mislead without necessarily meeting formal definitions of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. They may harm reliability but fall outside the standard U.S. federal misconduct definition.
Falsification (science) : Manipulating research materials, methods, or data, or changing or omitting results, so the research record is inaccurate. Falsification alters genuine research evidence or its presentation.
Expression of concern : A journal notice warning that a published article's reliability is under investigation or remains uncertain. Journals may issue one while a misconduct inquiry is unresolved.
Diederik Stapel : A Dutch social psychologist who fabricated data in numerous studies, as documented by university investigations. The case shows how fabricated datasets can persist across a large body of published work.
Scientific error : An unintentional mistake in research design, measurement, analysis, or interpretation. Honest error is explicitly distinguished from research misconduct in major policies.
Plagiarism : Presenting another person's words, ideas, or work as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment. Plagiarism is the third core form, involving misappropriation rather than invented or altered evidence.
Scientific misconduct in the United States : The U.S. regulatory and institutional framework for addressing fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism in research. Federal findings can lead to funding restrictions and other administrative actions.
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