| Data integrity, reliability and fraud in medical research. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20122612 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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BACKGROUND: Data reliability in original research requires collective trust from the academic community. Standards exist to ensure data integrity, but these safeguards are applied non-uniformly so errors or even fraud may still exist in the literature. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and consequences of data errors, data reliability safeguards and fraudulent data among medical academics. METHODOLOGY: Corresponding authors of every fourth primary research paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2001-2003), Canadian Medical Association Journal (2001-2003), British Medical Journal (1998-2000), and Lancet (1998-2000) were surveyed electronically. Questions focused on each author's personal experience with data reliability, data errors and data interpretation. RESULTS: Sixty-five percent (127/195) of corresponding authors responded. Ninety-four percent of respondents accepted full responsibility for the integrity of the last manuscript on which they were listed as co-author; however, 21% had discovered incorrect data after publication in previous manuscripts they had co-authored. Fraudulent data was discovered by 4% of respondents in their previous work. Four percent also noted 'smudged' data. Eighty-seven percent of respondents used data reliability safeguards in their last published manuscript, typically data review by multiple authors or double data entry. Twenty-one percent were involved in a paper that was submitted despite disagreement about the interpretation of the results, although the disagreeing author commonly withdrew from authorship. CONCLUSIONS: Data reliability remains a difficult issue in medical literature. A significant proportion of respondents did not use data reliability safeguards. Research fraud does exist in academia; however, it was not reported to be highly prevalent. |
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Authors:
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Mark Otto Baerlocher; Jeremy O'Brien; Marshall Newton; Tina Gautam; Jason Noble |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2009-11-26 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: European journal of internal medicine Volume: 21 ISSN: 1879-0828 ISO Abbreviation: Eur. J. Intern. Med. Publication Date: 2010 Feb |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-02-03 Completed Date: 2010-04-19 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9003220 Medline TA: Eur J Intern Med Country: Netherlands |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 40-5 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright 2009 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
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University of Toronto Radiology Residency Program, Toronto, Ontario, 13 Marshview Drive, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E4L 3B2. mark.baerlocher@utoronto.ca |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Authorship Biomedical Research / standards*, statistics & numerical data Data Collection Data Interpretation, Statistical Periodicals as Topic / standards, statistics & numerical data Prevalence Reproducibility of Results Research Design / standards Scientific Misconduct / statistics & numerical data* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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