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Do we achieve anything by teaching research integrity to starting PhD students?

Education

Do we achieve anything by teaching research integrity to starting PhD students?

S. Abdi, S. Fiewus, et al.

Discover how a mandatory 3-hour research integrity course impacted over 1000 starting PhD students at KU Leuven! Conducted by Shila Abdi, Steffen Fiewus, Benoit Nemery, and Kris Dierickx, this study highlights how formal education in research integrity can foster meaningful conversations and encourage an enduring change in behavior.

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~3 min • Beginner • English
Abstract
Education of young researchers has been proposed as a way to promote research integrity. However, the effectiveness of research integrity education on PhD students is unknown. In a longitudinal design, we surveyed over 1000 starting PhD students from various disciplines regarding knowledge, attitude and behaviour before, immediately after and 3 months after a compulsory 3-h course given by a panel of experts. Compared with a control group who did not follow the course, the course recipients showed significant (multivariate analysis) but modest improvements in knowledge and attitude scores immediately after the course, but not after 3 months; a prolonged impact was apparent regarding behaviour. Moreover, the course spurred 93% of PhD students to have conversations about research integrity and 79% declared applying the content of the course. Among other interventions, formal education in research integrity may contribute to foster a climate of research integrity in academia.
Publisher
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Published On
Oct 14, 2021
Authors
Shila Abdi, Steffen Fiewus, Benoit Nemery, Kris Dierickx
Tags
research integrity
PhD education
KU Leuven
student behavior
longitudinal study
course effectiveness
academic ethics
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