Research Compliance and Ethics: A Scholarly Review

This report is a comprehensive review of three scholarly papers focusing on questionable research practices (QRP) and research ethics. The student analyzes articles examining the prevalence of QRP in student theses, the role of supervisors in maintaining ethical standards, the definition and detection of QRP, and strategies for avoiding its use. The report highlights the importance of research integrity, discusses the factors contributing to QRP, and explores the impact of such practices on the quality and reliability of research findings. Furthermore, the report connects the concepts of research ethics, integrity, and compliance, demonstrating an understanding of the research enterprise and the need for ethical conduct. The analysis covers the impact of QRP, the role of supervisors, and the need for programs to minimize unethical practices, concluding with the importance of maintaining accuracy in research and providing solutions to overcome QRP.

Running head: RESEARCH COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS
Research Compliance and Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1RESEARCH COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS
Questionable Research Practices (QRP) can be defined as a process where the
inconsistent data with respect to a hypothesis collected during ongoing research is excluded.
QRP can be used in practicality to a certain extent. It can be used when a data entry error is
identified, and the inclusion of this error might give rise to irrelevant and wrong results.
The first paper conducts a study on the prevalence of QRP during the process of
writing a student theses and the responsibility of supervisors during the process (Krishna &
Peter, 2018). The researchers have expertly designed the paper by putting in all the necessary
parameters that need checking to assess the researchers’ tendency to use QRP over the drawn
limit. Research should be conducted with utmost diligence and accuracy keeping in mind that
the study might give a scope of further investigation on the topic and can lead to innovations
which information in some cases leading to the publication of studies containing wrong
informations. While I was reading articles on the internet regarding this topic, I noticed that
there are very little researches done on this topic and fewer papers available on the internet.
But the researchers of this paper did a commendable job in covering quite a few issues not
addressed in any of the papers before. The roles of the research supervisors were not
discussed previously, and this research concludes that they indeed have an essential role to
play in encouraging the students to work without using QRP. The authors have also advised
the supervisors to be active during the research and writing and help the researchers in
overcoming difficulties to avoid these kinds of activities. Thus, it covers a crucial literature
gap which was existent before the publication of this paper.
The second article also sheds light on QRP, its definition, the limit till which it can be
used, detection, and recommendation to avoid its use (Replicability-Index, 2020). The report
also states that a few statistics books advising to exclude any data that is expected to be
wrong and might affect the result of the research. But many researchers exploit this by not
eliminating any data error or outliers when that outlier makes the result much more

2RESEARCH COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS
significant. However, this activity mostly degrades the quality of the research and gives a
false notion to anyone following the investigation for further studies. It provides all the
necessary information about QRP. This article also describes the differences between QRP
and Fraud and states the extent of using QRP. The authors of this article have identified and
listed various factors for which the researchers use QRP and how wrong it is to do so. The
researchers have also explained processes by which these practices can be lowered and
ultimately eliminated to produce papers without any incorrect information or calculations.
The pattern in which the author described the processes of avoiding QRP made it quite
understandable for beginners as well.
The third and final paper talks about maintaining integrity while performing research
to produce papers with accuracy (Artino Jr, Driessen & Maggio, 2019). It also states the
derogatory effects of producing research articles using QRP. During this research, the authors
have observed the frequency of self-reported research misconducts and usage of unnecessary
QRP among various researchers of an organization. The result showed that most of the
researchers at some point in working have either taken the help of QRP or conducted any of
the related misconducts, which is quite alarming. This paper has also raised the concern of
the increasing use of these evil elements in research, which should be stopped. This is one of
the few studies that researched such a vast subject.
The motive of all these articles was to raise a concern on the extent to which unfair
means are being used in researches and provide solutions to overcome the usage of QRP. The
simple language in which all these three papers are written is quite easy to comprehend and
work ethically.

3RESEARCH COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS
Reference
Artino Jr, A. R., Driessen, E. W., & Maggio, L. A. (2019). Ethical shades of gray:
International frequency of scientific misconduct and questionable research practices
in health professions education. Academic Medicine, 94(1), 76-84.
Krishna, A., & Peter, S. M. (2018). Questionable research practices in student final theses–
Prevalence, attitudes, and the role of the supervisor’s perceived attitudes. PloS
one, 13(8).
Replicability-Index. (2020). Questionable Research Practices: Definition, Detect, and
Recommendations for Better Practices. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from
https://replicationindex.com/2015/01/24/questionable-research-practices-definition-
detect-and-recommendations-for-better-practices/