PLoS Medicine
(Accessed 30 March 2013)
http://www.plosmedicine.org/

Essay
Research Misconduct in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Joseph Ana, Tracey Koehlmoos, Richard Smith, Lijing L. Yan
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001315

Summary Points
– All human activity is associated with misconduct, and as scientific research is a global activity, research misconduct is a global problem.

– Studies conducted mostly in high-income countries suggest that 2%–14% of scientists may have fabricated or falsified data and that a third to three-quarters may be guilty of “questionable research practices.”

– The few data available from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) suggest that research misconduct is as common there as in high-income countries, and there have been high profile cases of misconduct from LMICs.

– A comprehensive response to misconduct should include programmes of prevention, investigation, punishment, and correction, and arguably no country has a comprehensive response, although the US, the Scandinavian Countries, and Germany have formal programmes.

– China has created an Office of Scientific Research Integrity Construction and begun a comprehensive response to research misconduct, but most LMICs have yet to mount a response.