Authors : Latifah Amin, Siti Zaimah Zainal, Zaharah Hassan and Maznah Hj. Ibrahim
Abstract: Scandals related to falsification and fabrication of research data has been exposed by the media despite promising breakthroughs. Although, many scientific research were conducted appropriately and reported accurately but there are researchers who invent or manipulate data to reach desirable conclusions. The public in advanced countries has been aware of scientific misconduct issues since the 1980's but there have been limited studies in developing countries. Several established universities in Malaysia have been accredited as research universities. The academicians working in research universities have felt the added pressure to secure as many research grants as possible and to publish their research in high impact journals to meet the research university’s criteria. In addition, they have to carry heavy teaching loads and other assigned responsibilities. Given such a scenario, the probability of scientific misconduct happening is there. If Malaysian universities aspire to be excellent research universities then there should be awareness and clear guidelines on research ethics practices among university lecturers. This study presents a review on the contributing factors of research misconduct that can give an insight towards the preparation of a research ethic guideline.
Latifah Amin, Siti Zaimah Zainal, Zaharah Hassan and Maznah Hj. Ibrahim, 2012. Factors Contributing to Research Misconducts. The Social Sciences, 7: 283-288.