Assessment of Awareness of Research Misconduct among Interns in Nigeria

Background: Research is the source of evidence for all medical and allied procedures. Research misconducts are wrongdoings during the conduct of research which can be committed intentionally or ignorantly. Research misconduct includes plagiarism, falsification and fabrication of results. Novice researchers may commit misconduct unaware of it being an unwanted practice. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the awareness of interns of research misconduct.Method: The present study was a cross sectional survey that utilized a questionnaire to obtain information on research misconduct among ۵۳ interns at Federal medical center Yola, Nigeria using a purposive sampling technique. Data analysis was done using SPSS V۲۰ utilizing frequency and percentage to summarize the data and chi-square to assess association between categorical variables.Results: Majority (۳۵.۷%) of the participants were within the age range of ۲۶-۳۰. Males were ۳۴ (۶۵.۴%) and mostly nurses were ۱۷ (۳۲.۵%). Majority of the participants ۴۵ (۸۶.۵%) were aware of informed consent but only less than two-fifth (۲/۵) were aware of declaration of Helsinki. More than ۴/۵ of the participants were aware of plagiarism (۸۶.۸%), fabrication (۹۴.۳%) and falsification (۸۶.۶%) of results in research.Conclusion: Participants in this study showed a significant level of awareness of research misconduct.

Keywords:

Awareness , Plagiarism , Salami slicing , Fabrication , Research misconduct