Overall, researchers in ecology and evolution reported high levels of Questionable Research Practices (Table 2, Fig 1). However, the frequency with which researchers reported using these regularly was much lower (Fig 2) and qualitative analyses reveals use of these practices in ways that may be less questionable (S2 Supplementary Material).
questionable
Columns relate to the description of the questionable research practice, complaints respondents made about the practice, indications on why they thought that practice might be tempting, and conditions that respondents identified as justifying the practice.
In research involving individuals with questionable consent capacity, IRBs and investigators may consider a recruitment plan that sets out how the assessment of consent capacity will be handled. For ====================
Cases of clear scientific misconduct have received significant media attention recently, but less flagrantly questionable research practices may be more prevalent and, ultimately, more damaging to the academic enterprise. Using an anonymous elicitation format supplemented by incentives for honest reporting, we surveyed over 2,000 psychologists about their involvement in questionable research practices. The impact of truth-telling incentives on self-admissions of questionable research practices was positive, and this impact was greater for practices that respondents judged to be less defensible. Combining three different estimation methods, we found that the percentage of respondents who have engaged in questionable practices was surprisingly high. This finding suggests that some questionable practices may constitute the prevailing research norm.
Recent studies have shown that use of herbal dietary supplements--chamomile, echinacea, garlic, ginkgo biloba, and ginseng--by the elderly within the United States has increased substantially. Sellers, such as retail stores, Web sites, and distributors, often claim these supplements help improve memory, circulation, and other bodily functions. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether sellers of herbal dietary supplements are using deceptive or questionable marketing practices and (2) whether selected herbal dietary supplements are contaminated with harmful substances. To conduct this investigation, GAO investigated a nonrepresentative selection of 22 storefront and mail-order retailers of herbal dietary supplements. Posing as elderly consumers, GAO investigators asked sales staff (by phone and in person) at each retailer a series of questions regarding herbal dietary supplements. GAO also reviewed written marketing language used on approximately 30 retail Web sites. Claims were evaluated against recognized scientific research published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). GAO also had an accredited lab test 40 unique popular single-ingredient herbal dietary supplements for the presence of lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, organichlorine pesticides, and organophosphorous pesticides.
More than half of Dutch scientists regularly engage in questionable research practices, such as hiding flaws in their research design or selectively citing literature, according to a new study. And one in 12 admitted to committing a more serious form of research misconduct within the past 3 years: the fabrication or falsification of research results.
The survey found Ph.D. students had the hardest time meeting the standards of responsible research. Some 53% of them admitted to frequently engaging in one of the 11 questionable research behaviors within the past 3 years, compared to 49% of associate and full professors.
Although the 51% figure for questionable research practices exceeded that found by previous surveys, it could still be an underestimate, says Daniele Fanelli, a research ethicist at the London School of Economics who was not involved in the study. The survey defined these practices unambiguously, in a way that left no room for participants to think the practices might be okay. "As a result, it is possible that participants were less likely to answer honestly," Fanelli says.
Still, she says many of the questionable research practices mentioned in the survey, and even some examples of outright fraud, should not always be viewed as black and white. "Excluding an outlier from your results is falsification, but sometimes you have good reasons to do so," she says. "And publishing your negative results is just very hard," because many journals lack interest. "It is good to have these rules and to think about them, but not always obeying them does not make you a bad researcher."
*Correction, 9 July, 12:25 p.m.: An earlier version of this story misapplied comments from Daniele Fanelli. He believes the survey's prevalence of questionable research practices, not fraud, could be underestimated.
Background: Older adults with questionable dementia are at risk of progressing to dementia, and early intervention is considered important. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR)-based memory training for older adults with questionable dementia.
Methods: A pre-test and post-test design was adopted. Twenty and 24 older adults with questionable dementia were randomly assigned to a VR-based and a therapist-led memory training group, respectively. Primary outcome measures included the Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire and Fuld Object Memory Evaluation.
Conclusion: The use of VR seems to be acceptable for older adults with questionable dementia. Further study on the effect of educational background and memory training modality (visual, auditory) is warranted.
We analyzed Prescription Drug Event (PDE) records for compounded topical drugs from 2010 to 2016. With input from OIG investigators and CMS, we developed five measures to identify pharmacies with questionable billing for these drugs. We also identified prescribers associated with these pharmacies.
Medicare Part D spending for compounded topical drugs was 24 times higher in 2016 than it was in 2010. This explosive growth raises concerns about fraud and abuse. About 550 pharmacies had questionable Part D billing for compounded topical drugs in 2016. These pharmacies warrant further scrutiny. They each billed extremely high amounts for at least one of five measures that OIG has developed as indicators of possible fraud, waste, or abuse. For example, many of these pharmacies billed for compounded topical drugs for a high proportion of their beneficiaries. More than one-quarter of these pharmacies were located in four metropolitan areas. In addition, 124 prescribers associated with pharmacies with questionable billing raise particular concern. Each of these prescribers ordered high amounts of compounded topical drugs dispensed by these pharmacies.
This change to the Nacha Operating Rules will enhance quality and improve risk management within the ACH Network by allowing RDFIs to indicate within a return that the original transaction was questionable or part of anomalous activity.
In addition to research misconduct and general misconduct, an MIT faculty committee on academic responsibility, chaired by Professor Sheila E. Widnall, also identified a set of generic practices for the proper performance of research and mentoring in its report, Fostering Academic Integrity: Report of the Committee on Academic Responsibility, pp. 9-11. Departments, centers, and laboratories are encouraged to discuss the thresholds at which deviations from the practices outlined in the report may constitute improper or questionable research practices. Such deviations would interfere with the responsible practice of research and should be strongly discouraged. Most disputes within groups about deviations from good practice can be resolved by informal discussions with supervisors, lab and center directors, or department heads.
With the rising support for stakeholder capitalism and at the urging of its advocates, companies have been increasingly using ESG metrics for CEO compensation. In a recently released study, The Perils and Questionable Promise of ESG-Based Compensation, we provide a conceptual and empirical analysis of this practice, and we expose its fundamental flaws and limitations. The use of ESG-based compensation, we show, has questionable promise and poses significant perils.
McFall et al[5] (1982), replicated the study of Hirschfeld et al[3] (1978) in a faculty-practice based patient population (n = 100) that was followed up for at least 15 years. There results were in complete agreement with the previous studies. As in previous studies, maxillary 2nd molars were the most frequently lost teeth and mandibular cuspids and bicuspids were the less frequently lost ones. The definition of questionable prognosis that was utilized in this study predicted only 48.7% of the tooth loss in all groups. From the teeth that were initially assigned questionable prognosis, 62.3% were lost during the follow-up.
A 2.1% tooth loss (51/2484) was noted for the study population. The teeth with good prognosis remained relatively stable, while teeth in the fair and poor categories frequently improved. The questionable category generally got better, but a significant number of teeth were lost and teeth in the hopeless category were generally lost. Findings of interest were that prognosis was more accurate for single rooted teeth than multi-rooted, and that 3rd molars and mandibular molars tended to perform worse than expected. The author discussed that the criteria for assigning prognosis in this study were less lenient in downgrading a tooth to questionable prognosis in comparison to the criteria of Hirschfeld et al[3] (1978).
In the second part of this study the authors attempted to investigate the accuracy of a statistical model that would consider several explanatory variables such as, furcation involvement, pocket depth, percentage of bone loss, mobility, crown to root ratio and root proximity, based on the data published previously[8]. The model was very accurate in predicting prognosis (approximately 80%), especially in non-molar teeth. When scrutinizing the results, the authors found that the accuracy of the model was significantly compromised when teeth with good prognosis were excluded from the analysis ( 2ff7e9595c
Comments