Merit and integrity Archives

A funny cartoon of what medical researchers really meant by their recruitment title.

Friday afternoon’s funny – Be wary of their true meaning

This humorous Don Mayne cartoon depicts why potential participants in medical research should always be careful that their assumptions about a research project match the design of a project. Even though it is unlikely that a planned project will be this ghastly or dangerous, this is why research ethics review bodies should be aware of how researchers will describe their project in recruitment materials. This is to watch against text that might give a false impression about a project.

(USA) The Philadelphia Experiments – Quillette (Allen M. Hornblum | December 2022)

In the past, we have played a direct role in the design and delivery of HREC member professional development for the NHMRC. We are now not proud of that involvement because it embedded poor practice into the conduct of research ethics review in Australia. Cases like this are shocking and such research practice needs to be blocked from ever happening again. But the use of an egregious case of medical research from US is unlikely to be considered relevant outside of the health sciences in Australia. Rather than using such cases for shock value or as justification for research ethics review and combative review decisions, it should be used as an opportunity to discuss, vulnerability, conflicts of interest, researcher responsibilities and clinical trial monitoring. That approach might seem to be a less shocking or engaging way to go, but it should result in better review decisions.

Potential vaccination for COVID-19 concept. Beautiful banner - hands of Researcher holding Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Vaccine vials on blue hygienic tone background. Hope, Success, COVAX, Collaboration.

The Pandemic Uncovered Ways to Speed Up Science – WIRED (Saloni Dattani | October 2022)

The accepted wisdom is that careful research to develop new treatments take many years, if not decades. It is the reason why there has been such a delay between the commencement of clinical trials and the availability of the treatment. That is why some worried that the availability of Covid treatments was an indication the research been rushed and so the vaccines where are unsafe. The reasoning being, fast research couldn’t be quality research. However, the response to the pandemic has shown it’s possible to do quality research research quickly.

Close-up of the windows keyboard, where the enter key has been replaced by a red key with the word "SCAM".

Exposed: The plague of fake medical trials putting lives in danger as experts reveal a FIFTH of studies published each year could contain invented or plagiarised results – Daily Mail Health (Barney Calman | October 2022)

Falsified results of medical research are a serious concern for a number of reasons:

(i) They can put lives at risk;
(ii) They can indicate fraud;
(iii) They can corrupt the scientific record;
(iv) They misdirect future inquiry; and
(v) Scandals such as this can undermine community and media trust in research.

For this reason, institutions must treat proven cheats and charlatans especially harshly.

Survived in nuclear disaster mutant bandit or underground human creature, wearing rags and human skulls on shoulders

Scabies! – Statistical Modelling, Causal Inference, and Social Science (Andrew Gelman | November 2021)

It should be accepted that some charlatans intentionally publish with questionable publishers to get their wild and flawed theories into the published press. Rather than being tricked by a publisher that does not have a genuine peer review process, they intentionally select such a publisher because of its absence of genuine peer review. This item discusses some even more insidious forms of academic publishing. It discusses publications created specifically to peddle crazy conspiracy theories and nutty ideas. It is not hard to identify such titles; getting mad is understandable, but we need to take a serious look at institutional, grants and fellowship programmes to ensure that such publications are not inadvertently included as a track record of publication.

A sepia silhouette cartoon of a man stricken holding his hands in a prison cell.

(US) Clinical trial coordinators sentenced to prison after data falsification scheme – Endpoints News (Paul Schloesser | October 2022)

Falsifying clinical trial data and results is not a victimless crime. At one level, it is potentially fraud of a funding body or institution. On another, it can place future patients and the wider community at risk, because of a faulty understanding of a condition or the effectiveness/safety of an experimental intervention. It seems this US court agrees. An additional factor when someone considers falsification is that, if you believe in the promise of an intervention, if you cheat, you might sully the reputation of the intervention far into the future.

Equity Diversity Inclusion Fairness Equality Words 3d Illustration

The critical role of ethics in forced migration research: Refugee participation, Do No Harm, and the IASFM Code of Ethics (Talks: Alfred Babo, Ruxandra Bujor & Abulogn Okello | December 2020)

Research on forced migration provides critical input into the processes that help shape policy on displacement and humanitarian response. On

(Canada) Evaluating prospective study registration and result reporting of trials conducted in Canada from 2009-2019 (Preprint Paper: Mohsen Alayche et al. | September 2022)

Abstract Background Adherence to study registration and reporting best practices are vital to foster evidence-based medicine. Poor adherence to these

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Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services Pty Ltd (AHRECS)

(USA) The Philadelphia Experiments – Quillette (Allen M. Hornblum | December 2022)

The Pandemic Uncovered Ways to Speed Up Science – WIRED (Saloni Dattani | October 2022)

Exposed: The plague of fake medical trials putting lives in danger as experts reveal a FIFTH of studies published each year could contain invented or plagiarised results – Daily Mail Health (Barney Calman | October 2022)

Scabies! – Statistical Modelling, Causal Inference, and Social Science (Andrew Gelman | November 2021)

(US) Clinical trial coordinators sentenced to prison after data falsification scheme – Endpoints News (Paul Schloesser | October 2022)

The critical role of ethics in forced migration research: Refugee participation, Do No Harm, and the IASFM Code of Ethics (Talks: Alfred Babo, Ruxandra Bujor & Abulogn Okello | December 2020)

(Canada) Evaluating prospective study registration and result reporting of trials conducted in Canada from 2009-2019 (Preprint Paper: Mohsen Alayche et al. | September 2022)

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ACN - 101321555 | ABN - 39101321555

Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services Pty Ltd (AHRECS)