This factsheet is currently being prepared by the Responsible Science team. It will provide an overview of the topic, explain its relevance to responsible research, and include practical guidance and further resources.
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You’ve suddenly realised that the idea you’ve had has real world application. You’re about to draft the funding grant(s) to realise the dream. Right now is the time to get to know your organisation’s Safety Manager and start asking questions. You have arrived at the part of the research cycle where the proposed design of your lab, your protocols and your quantum product will intersect with Australia’s Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation (WHS Act, WHS Regulations and Codes of Practice) and scientific regulation and it’s time to firmly insert safety into your Gantt chart. Australian Academic research is undertaken within some of strictest regulatory guidelines in the world. From Border Security concerns regarding imported materials, equipment manufacture, genetic modification work, radioactive materials, to chemical use, storage and disposal, there is a seemingly endless legislative quagmire that you may not yet be aware of, but must skilfully navigate for your research to succeed.
People don’t expect to be injured or killed when conducting their work. The protection of workers’ health and safety should be at the core of any organisation’s culture. Working safely must be instilled into an organisation and made a priority. It needs to start with CEO, Group Leader, or Chief Investigator and work down.
In 2008, Professor Patrick Harran was prosecuted when his student, 23-year-old research assistant Sheri Sangji was severely burned in Harran’s laboratory when an air-sensitive chemical she was manipulating ignited, setting her clothing on fire, as she was not wearing a protective lab coat. Sangji passed away 18 days later. This was a landmark case, as an academic was charged in relation to laboratory safety failure. [2]
Fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism (FFP) are forms of research misconduct that compromise scientific integrity. Fabrication refers to making up data or results, including generating numbers without performing experiments or creating false images by duplicating and relabelling existing ones. Falsification involves the deliberate manipulation of methods, materials, equipment, data, or results so that the research is not accurately represented. This may involve altering data, tampering with images, or removing data points or test subjects that contradict the research hypothesis. Although both distort the evidence base, fabrication introduces entirely false information, whereas falsification alters genuine results in misleading ways. [1]
Plagiarism is the use of another person’s ideas, methods, or words without giving due credit. Self-plagiarism involves reusing one’s own previously published work without acknowledgement, which could create a false impression of originality. While plagiarism does not directly change data, it misrepresents intellectual contribution and authorship. [2]
Overall, FFP undermine the reliability of the scientific record. Fabrication and falsification generate results that cannot be reproduced, wasting resources, and eroding trust in research findings. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism weaken transparency and appropriate attribution, which are essential for the cumulative and self-correcting nature of science.
It is important to note that ‘intent’ is central to the definition of research misconduct. It excludes honest error and differences of opinion, and instead refers specifically to the ‘deliberate’ fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of research. [3]
The integrity, reliability, and legitimacy of scientific research depend on the proper conduct and reporting of research. Fabrication, falsification and plagiarism distort the knowledge base, misleading other researchers, skewing meta-analyses, and wasting time, funding, and resources as others build on unreliable results. In some cases, this can have real-world consequences where decisions are made on the basis of flawed findings. Research misconduct also erodes trust in science. High-profile cases can damage the credibility of individual researchers, institutions, and entire disciplines, undermining confidence in the broader research enterprise.
Avoid fabrication
Avoid falsification
Avoid plagiarism
Avoid self–plagiarism
Former University of Queensland professor, Bruce Murdoch, falsified a breakthrough study on Parkinson’s disease. The falsification was first discovered through a whistleblower report that alerted UQ to the fact that no such study had ever been conducted. Two research papers coming out of the study were retracted. Most notably, Murdoch was convicted and sentenced for 17 fraud-related offences following an investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission. This was the first criminal prosecution for research fraud. [10]