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Reconsidering the Challenges: An Eco-Systemic Lens on Research Integrity

Martinson BC. Reconsidering the Challenges: An Eco-Systemic Lens on Research Integrity. Presented at: Research Integrity Triennial World Conference; 2015 May 31; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.




Abstract:

Ideally, all individuals within the scientific ecosystem will have and act with an "integrity mindset." Achieving this goal can be undermined by systemic challenges that have most recently been highlighted by leaders of the U.S. biomedical research system. We will review some of those structural challenges and illustrate how the metaphor of an ecosystem can be helpful in avoiding and/or redressing some of those problems. Too often the focus of research integrity efforts has been the identification of "bad people." We need to view this broader set of behaviors and actors in context of the "organizational ecology" in which the problematic behavior can arise. By focusing greater attention on the ecosystem of science, there is a greater opportunity to identify and mitigate "bad situations," that can lead even good people into poor decisions. Using a wider lens focusing on structural and environmental factors, and thinking about quality improvement and quality assurance, as well as individual professional responsibility, can help us all focus on the quality and integrity of science. That broader lens must also encompass the institutions in which research takes place, is funded and is disseminated. This session will present several complementary perspectives that have been proposed to understand the occurrence of detrimental research practices and be able to identify contextual factors (including structural/systemic and institution-specific) that are likely to affect research-related behavior in the ecosystem of science.





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