The vexing but persistent problem of authorship misconduct in research

This paper examines authorship misconduct: practices such as gift, guest, honorary and ghost authorship (excluding plagiarism) that involve inappropriate attribution of authorship credits. Drawing on the existing literature, we describe the extent of authorship misconduct and why it presents a problem. We then construct a simple matching model of guest authorship to show how researchers can form teams (of two) where one researcher free-rides off the efforts of the other; at equilibrium, the latter is content for this free-riding to occur, rather than forming a different team involving no free-riding. We discuss how this model can be generalized to incorporate honorary and gift authorship, and why capturing ghost authorship may require significant changes to the modelling. While formal (game-theoretic) modelling of other aspects of research misconduct is prevalent in the literature, to our knowledge, ours is the first attempt to isolate the strategic interaction that leads to authorship misconduct. If authorship misconduct is a rational choice by researchers, we investigate the use of a monitoring-punishment approach to eliminate the free-riding equilibria. The possibility of monitoring is not just theoretical: we outline the recent advances in distributed ledger technology and authorship forensics that make monitoring of research workflows a viable strategy for institutions to curb authorship misconduct. One of the advantages of working with our simple model is that it provides a framework to examine the relationship between efficiency and ethics in this context, an issue that has by and large been ignored in the literature.     

基于治理视角下的大学科研诚信建设研究

科研诚信不仅是研究者的责任,同时也是研究者所在组织机构的责任。大学,作为主要的研究机构,必须强调诚信的重要性,保持科研道德的高标准。通过对美国明尼苏达大学科研诚信制度体系的考察,分析科研诚信规章制度、科研不端行为监管处理机制、教育计划等举措对于鼓励研究者建立正确的价值观和履行负责任的研究行为,营造良好的科研道德氛围的重要性,同时也为我国高校科研诚信建设提供有益的启示。     

科研压力对博士生学术不端行为的影响研究

基于理论分析构建了科研压力对博士生学术不端行为态度的研究模型,并通过234份数据对所提假设进行了实证检验。结果表明,科研压力与博士生学术不端行为态度显著正相关,科研自我效能感在科研压力与学术不端行为态度之间具有部分中介作用,导师指导对科研压力与科研自我效能感的关系没有调节作用,身边同学学术不端行为对科研自我效能感与学术不端行为态度的关系具有负向调节作用。最后,指出了研究结论、建议与局限性。     

案例分析视角下科研不端行为处置流程与原则

基于不同程度科研不端行为视角,以美国、日本、中国的4个典型科研失信案例为研究对象,通过分析其案例背景、处置流程、处理结果,发现在典型的科研不端行为案例中,科研机构充当首要责任主体,政府、科研机构、学术共同体介入时间清晰,强调治理的法制化;在有争议的研究行为案例中,学术期刊充当主体并采取同行评议与学术不端系统相结合的防范措施,各主体加强联动开展教育活动等原则。     

On the use of blockchain-based mechanisms to tackle academic misconduct

Current incentives for publishing in academic journals result in a “winner-take-all” contest-like situation, with significant benefits for publishing research in quality journals. At the same time, empirically, we observe a greater incidence of research misconduct. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the nature and extent of the misconduct problem, to show why it may persist in the absence of conscious remedial action, and to discuss solutions that help lower the likelihood of spurious research escaping undetected. A simple model is constructed to emphasize that there exists the potential for a Prisoners’ Dilemma in academia, where scholars engage in misconduct at equilibrium (the Academic Dilemma). The paper then examines why conventional “centralized” regulatory solutions under the current system are not likely to succeed in resolving the problem, analyzes the properties of a decentralized solution utilizing blockchains, and argues that once incentive structures in academia are factored in, a permissioned blockchain may emerge as an effective middle-ground solution for mitigating scientific misconduct. In doing so, the paper highlights the importance of new technologies and recent advancements in Open Science for battling misconduct, and takes stock of the evolving nature of academic publishing.     

欧美科研不端行为的治理模式及特点

经过近三十年的发展,欧美主要国家已经初步建立了与本国科研环境和研究实践相适应的科研不端行为治理体系。从各国的机构设置、规范制定等方面的比较可以看出,目前已初步形成了政府主导型和科研机构主导型两种较为典型的治理模式,而这两种治理模式的不同又对科研不端行为的定义,调查和处理过程等产生了明显的影响,对其构成和特点的总结分析将对我国科研不端治理体系建设具有重要的启示意义。     

Short-term incentives of research evaluations: Evidence from the UK Research Excellence Framework

We document incentive effects of the evaluation deadlines in the UK’s performance-based research funding system. Studying 3,597,272 publications by UK researchers, we find that publications just before assessment deadlines obtain substantially fewer citations and are published in venues with lower impact factors. These trends reverse abruptly after the deadlines. We discuss different factors that contribute to this observation and provide evidence that evaluation deadlines are likely to set incentives against investment in research quality and long-term topics. We conclude that where such shifts in research incentives are not intended, they might require balancing by additional incentives for exploratory, long-term oriented research.     

科研不端行为对我国创新研究的影响

 通过建立“科研的不端行为”、“创新成果”和“审计评审机制”三者的数学模型，重点探讨和研究了严格、公平、透明的学术评议及评审制度在这一过程中发挥的积极作用，从而进一步提出了制衡学术造假、营造和谐学术环境的相应对策。研究结果表明，公正的评审和审计力度越大，越有利于遏制“科研的不端行为”的发生，同时创新成果也随之增加。     

Does research organization influence academic production?: Laboratory level evidence from a large European university

The paper analyses scientific research production at the laboratory level. The evidence on which the study is based describes precisely the research activity over the period 1993-2000 of more than eighty labs belonging to Louis Pasteur University, a large and well-ranked European research university. The research organization of the labs is analysed by focusing on the characteristics of the research personnel in relation with the scores in two outcomes that are publications and patents. The paper proposes a five-classes typology of laboratories that highlights different styles of research organization and productivity at the laboratory level. It also studies the determinants of the publication performances of labs. We show how appropriate combinations of inputs in academic labs may be strongly associated to high publication performances. We find that combining full-time researchers and university professors in labs tend to preserve incentives. Highly publishing labs also patent. The size of the labs, the individual promotions, and the role of non-permanent researchers and of non-researchers are also underlined.     

Evaluating solutions to the problem of false positives

A current challenge for the scientific community is the choice of appropriate policies to reduce the rate of false positives. Existing proposals differ in whether to prioritize tackling omission through transparency requirements, punishing more severe transgressions, or possibly both. We use a formal model to evaluate these possible solutions. We find that a policy that prohibitively increases the cost of ‘misdemeanor’ types of questionable research practices robustly decreases the overall rate of researcher misconduct, because the rate of ‘felonies’, such as fabrication, also decreases. Therefore proposals that aim to prevent lying by omission by enforcing reporting guidelines are likely to be effective in reducing researcher misconduct, but measures such as government audits (purported to counteract pure fraud) can backfire. Moreover, we find that an increase in the rewards of publication need not increase overall misconduct.     

科研不端行为查处程序的比较分析——基于美国、韩国及中国的典型案例

比较分析美国"E.T.波尔曼事件"、韩国"黄禹锡事件"及中国"陈进事件"等科研不端行为典型案件的查处程序表明,已构建健全科研不端行为防范体制和机制的美国,有着正确、及时、秘密的查处程序,并能发挥其应有的公平、公正与效率作用;急功近利而无相关法律规制的韩国,也能正确、及时和有效地查处黄禹锡事件,并积极建立相关防范体制;面对类似突发事件的中国,虽有立法不足、体制不全、程序公正性和效用性欠缺等问题,却也积极推动了相关制度建设。     

我国政府科研诚信规范的历史演进与对策研究

20世纪80年代以来,我国对学界科研诚信问题的治理方式经历了不同的阶段。文章以国家科技部2006年《国家科技计划实施中科研不端行为处理办法(试行)》(简称《办法》)和2019年《科研诚信案件调查处理规则(试行)》(简称《规则》)的文本分析入手,通过对比两者关于科研不端行为的定义、处理流程、处理结果及对申诉程序的说明,探讨我国政府对科研不端行为治理的发展历程及阶段特点;总结国家层面上治理思路与措施的演进过程,并对其中的变化、问题和未来发展给出了分析和建议。作者认为,国家应通过制度建设不断加强科研诚信管理与治理,通过政策引导系统改善科技创新生态体系,加强科研伦理的教育和普及,以促进我国科技事业更加健康的稳步发展,有效防范科技政策风险。     

Cheat or perish? A theory of scientific customs

Performance incentives have become increasingly important in academia. Evidence suggest that they increase not only researchers’ effort but also their cheating. We develop a principal–agent framework in which a research institution (principal) aims to reward scientific productivity considering the social benefit of research and the remuneration costs. Researchers (agents) take into account what others are doing. As a consequence, the introduction of performance incentives not only leads to fraudulent behavior in the short run, but may also deteriorate the scientific norm in the long run. In the face of these dynamics, the principal pursues two goals: to increase productivity (effort incentive policy) and to deal with fraud (anti-fraud policy). Several factors determine the optimal mix of policies: economic factors (researchers’ cost of providing high or low effort, the societal value of scientific knowledge and the societal costs of scientific misbehavior) and psychological factors (the evolution of norms over time). An important insight of our theory is that when research institutions seek to encourage the production of high quality research, they should also raise the salary for normal research to avoid misconduct.     

GPT技术变革对基础科学研究的影响分析

以 ChatGPT为代表的 GPT生成式大模型发展日益蓬勃,引起了学界和业界的广泛讨论,对基础科研的发展带来了难以估量的影响。文章首先梳理了 GPT技术革命的发展历程,并讨论了该技术在科学研究中带来的新变革。然后,基于应用牵引、原理驱动、创新主体迁移 3个视角,讨论了 GPT技术革命对基础科学研究带来的影响及对我国的发展建议。研究认为 GPT技术固然可以对知识生产、科学研究等方面发挥积极作用,甚至促进科研范式变革,但也可能造成科研不端、削弱研究可信度、放大互联网固有偏见、知识产权“卡脖子”等问题。因此,本研究最后讨论了如何基于 GPT技术发展我国的基础科学研究,明确在投资与研发国家自主可控、受知识产权保护的数据与计算平台的同时,鼓励人机协作与科研诚信监管并重,为人工智能（AI） 推动基础科学发展营造公开透明的环境。本研究旨在为政策制定者、一线研究工作者理解 GPT技术对于基础科学的影响提供理解视角,推进GPT技术的合理使用,并为未来学术生态的健康发展提供参考。     

Commercial science, scientists’ values, and university biotechnology research agendas

Policies designed to promote the commercialization of university science have provoked concern that basic and publicly accessible research may be neglected. Commercialization policies have altered traditional institutional incentives and constraints, which raises new questions regarding the influence of scientists’ values on university research agendas. Our research builds on previous quantitative studies measuring changes in research outcomes and qualitative studies probing differentiation among scientists’ value orientations. We developed a nation-wide survey of 912 plant and animal biotechnology scientists at 60 research universities. Our analysis reveals that scientists’ value orientations on what we classify as “market” and “expert” science affect the amount of industry funding they receive, the proprietary nature of their discoveries, and the percentage of basic science research conducted in their laboratories. We also find that the percentage of industry funding is significantly associated with more applied research. Our findings provide insights for science and society theory and suggest that strong incentives for public-science research along with adequate public-research funds to preserve the university's vital role in conducting basic and non-proprietary research are needed to complement private-sector research investments at universities.     

科研不端行为的纠偏模式初探

 科研不端行为在国内外皆存在。产生科研不端行为的原因在于科学认知过程的复杂性及社会、文化环境的影响。对科研不端行为的纠偏应采取认知控制、社会控制及文化控制等方式。     

The challenge of managing boundary-spanning research activities: Experiences from the Swedish context

Contemporary and future challenges when managing research involve coping with emerging prerequisites which include, among other things, a new knowledge production discourse, new research funding methods and new ways for international collaboration. Managers for boundary-spanning research activities need to combine the sometimes opposing logics and perspectives of the multiple stakeholders—the individual researchers searching for independence, sustainability and freedom and others searching for integration, relevance and predictability. Based on a collaborative research set-up including interviews, discussions and workshops with major Swedish research funding agencies, research program managers, experienced industry partners and key stakeholders, the paper identifies six main managerial challenges: (i) lack of focus on research management and unsatisfying prerequisites, (ii) weak identity and low status of the role of the research managers, (iii) few incentives for research management, (iv) lack of leadership development opportunities for researchers, (v) multiple (and sometimes contradictory) expectations from different stakeholders, and (vi) sustained funding. Finally, the managerial implications of these challenges for universities and funding agencies are discussed.     

科研不端行为的惩罚强度研究

政府、学界和社会越来越关注科研不端行为,治理科研不端有助于科研生态系统的健康发展,健全惩罚机制是治理科研不端的主要手段。学术界已经认同科研不端的惩罚力度比较弱,然而科研不端惩罚强度设定及其影响因素的研究还相对缺乏。借助于公开数据,收集了1997-2017年213个典型科研不端案例,构建了科研不端惩罚强度的七个等级,借助于统计软件分析了惩罚强度的影响因素,研究发现：绝大多数案例的惩罚强度在一级到四级之间;社会整体的惩罚强度在增强,但是单个案例的惩罚强度并没有随时间而增强;媒体关注力度显著影响到惩罚强度;科研不端类型叠加对惩罚强度有一定影响。在此基础上,讨论了撤除措施与惩罚措施的区分,学术不端的公共围观效应能否发挥作用,分段惩罚的实施难点,学术规范的内化与过度激励论文数量的内在矛盾。     

Behavioural aspects of research management - a review

This paper attempts to summarize the recent behavioural science literature dealing with the management of research personnel and of the organizational research function.Sociologists are divided over the salience of the institutional norms of science for organizational scientists. Do scientists in corporate environments find themselves torn between values and norms of behaviour absorbed during professional training, and the possibly very different values and norms of the organization in which they subsequently work? If indeed scientists are principally oriented to the wider scientific community, what incentives can management offer in order to secure or maintain their commitment? A number of rather different studies have sought correlations between the effectiveness or productivity of scientists and various characteristics of the organizations in which they work. Positive relationships have been demonstrated with, inter alia, extent and pattern of communication, the nature of managerial control, incentives provided, sizes and ages of research groups, and functional compared to project organization. Of course, technically successful research is no guarantee of substantial utility for a commercial organization.Whilst most of the literature relates to the industrial situation, this review attempts from time to time to point its relevance for management in the public sector.     

A systematic literature review on intangible assets and open innovation

Despite the growing interest, Open Innovation (OI) in Intangible Assets (IAs) research is still fragmented and displays a limited contextual focus. This paper aims to provide a clearer view of these issues and represents a first step toward filling such research gap. A systematic literature review and a synthesis of high-quality contributions with a focus on a general overview of research on OI and IAs in OI processes have been carried out. By critically evaluating the current body of literature and definitions, we have moved a step further toward comprehending the multiple facets of existing research and highlight several promising areas for future development. In particular, we have analyzed the role of IAs in OI practices by selecting a synthesis and a critical review of their different exploitations. We have combined multiple algorithms to produce a clear topical taxonomy of the multiple strands of research lying at the interface of OI and IAs.