Date of Award
11-25-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Bioethics
First Advisor
Dr Kulsoom Ghias
Second Advisor
Dr Qamar Riaz
Third Advisor
Dr Kausar S Khan
Department
Educational Development
Abstract
Research integrity and the responsible conduct of research are foundational to the credibility and trustworthiness of scientific inquiry, particularly within the biomedical sciences. It defines the value of what research becomes. Many researchers uphold the ideals of transparency and rigor, but some do not. Recently, the integrity of scientific research has come under intense scrutiny, due to instances of outright fraud, and the occurrence of QRPs. The objectives of this study were to: 1. explore the perceptions and experiences of biomedical academic researchers, editorial board members and ethics committee members regarding types of behaviors or actions which constitute questionable research practices. 2. identify the potential impact of questionable research practices on academia and scholarly publishing. 3. suggest measures to promote culture of research integrity and ethical conduct (i.e. responsible conduct of the research) within the academic community in Pakistan. This was a convergent parallel (concurrent) mixed method study. Non-probability snowball sampling was used for the qualitative strand, and non-probability purposive maximal variance sampling for the qualitative strand was used. Consenting participants - researchers with at least three publications, ethics review committee members, university administrators and journal editors were included. For the quantitative part, a validated QRP questionnaire was employed, and semi-structured interview protocol was used for the qualitative part. This study concluded that inadequate personal education, massive publication pressure, and flawed institutional recruitment and promotion systems are prime drivers of QRPs. QRPs related to the authorship misconduct were found to be the most prevalent types. The conflicts of interest, salami slicing, manipulating peer review, and deliberate ethical infringements normalized as academic habits were the patterns of QRPs uncovered. The study recommended shifting standards of promotion, introducing ethics education at all levels, and elevating institutional responsibility through robust policies and penalties.
First Page
1
Last Page
72
Recommended Citation
Fatima, S.
(2025). Perception and experiences of questionable research practices in biomedical research of researchers, institutional leaders, and journal editor. , 1-72.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/etd_pk_mc_mbe/9