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Scientific misconduct and associated factors: A survey of researchers in three Chinese tertiary hospitals

ABSTRACT We designed a questionnaire to assess the prevalence of scientific misconduct and possible associated factors in tertiary hospitals in China. A total of 278 questionnaires were distributed to researchers in three tertiary hospitals, and 217 were returned. The top three influencing factors on scientific misconduct were individual morality (74.20%), pressure for promotion (65.90%), and pressure for publishing articles (63.59%). More than 50% of researchers thought the pressure for promotion, publication, and external funding were high or very high. Approximately 40% of researchers admitted having committed at least one of the nine listed forms of scientific misconduct, and 17.51% admitted having committed at least one of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. The most common scientific misconducts was inappropriate authorship (29.49%). Being a principal investigator or physician and higher pressure for promotion were associated with higher self-reported research misconduct severity score (RMSS) grade. Being female and better recognition of scientific integrity were related to lower RMSS grade. We recommend that the Chinese policy makers and hospitals pay more attention to increasing perceptions of scientific integrity, establish a more scientific evaluation system for promotion, and improve the auditing and surveillance of research.