Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Scientists Admitting to Plagiarism: A Meta-analysis of Surveys

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Science and Engineering Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of anonymous surveys asking scientists whether they ever committed various forms of plagiarism. From May to December 2011 we searched 35 bibliographic databases, five grey literature databases and hand searched nine journals for potentially relevant studies. We included surveys that asked scientists if, in a given recall period, they had committed or knew of a colleague who committed plagiarism, and from each survey extracted the proportion of those who reported at least one case. Studies that focused on academic (i.e. student) plagiarism were excluded. Literature searches returned 12,460 titles from which 17 relevant survey studies were identified. Meta-analysis of studies reporting committed (N = 7) and witnessed (N = 11) plagiarism yielded a pooled estimate of, respectively, 1.7 % (95 % CI 1.2–2.4) and 30 % (95 % CI 17–46). Basic methodological factors, including sample size, year of survey, delivery method and whether survey questions were explicit rather than indirect made a significant difference on survey results. Even after controlling for these methodological factors, between-study differences in admission rates were significantly above those expected by sampling error alone and remained largely unexplained. Despite several limitations of the data and of this meta-analysis, we draw three robust conclusions: (1) The rate at which scientists report knowing a colleague who committed plagiarism is higher than for data fabrication and falsification; (2) The rate at which scientists report knowing a colleague who committed plagiarism is correlated to that of fabrication and falsification; (3) The rate at which scientists admit having committed either form of misconduct (i.e. fabrication, falsification and plagiarism) in surveys has declined over time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, G. N., Ball, N. L., & Smith, H. J. (2011). Information systems research behaviors: What are the normative standards? MIS Quarterly, 35(3), 533–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M. S., & Steneck, N. H. (2011). The problem of plagiarism. Urologic Oncology, 29(1), 90–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antes, A. L., Murphy, S. T., Waples, E. P., Mumford, M. D., Brown, R. P., Connelly, S., et al. (2009). A meta-analysis of ethics instruction effectiveness in the sciences. Ethics and Behavior, 19(5), 379–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baždarić, K. (2012). Plagiarism detection-quality management tool for all scientific journals. Croatian Medical Journal, 53(1), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baždarić, K., Bilić-Zulle, L., Brumini, G., & Petrovečki, M. (2012). Prevalence of plagiarism in recent submissions to the Croatian medical journal. Science and Engineering Ethics, 18(2), 223–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bebeau, M. J., & Davis, E. L. (1996). Survey of ethical issues in dental research. Journal of Dental Research, 75(2), 845–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedeian, A., Taylor, S., & Miller, A. (2010). Management science on the credibility bubble: Cardinal sins and various misdemeanors. The Academy of Management Learning and Education, 9, 715–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biagioli, M. (2012). Recycling texts or stealing time? Plagiarism, authorship, and credit in science. International Journal of Cultural Property, 19, 453–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkowski, S., & Welsh, M. (2000). Ethical practice in the accounting publishing process: Contrasting opinions of authors and editors. Journal of Business Ethics, 25, 15–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosch, X., Hernandez, C., Pericas, J. M., Doti, P., & Marusic, A. (2012). Misconduct policies in high-impact biomedical journals. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e51928.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouville, M. (2008). Plagiarism: Words and ideas. Science and Engineering Ethics, 14(3), 311–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, G. L., & Mullen, D. (2002). Observations of ethical misconduct among industrial hygienists in England. AIHA Journal, 63(2), 151–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, D. (2010). Journals step up plagiarism policing. Nature, 466(7303), 167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cossette, P. (2004). Research integrity: An exploratory survey of administrative science faculties. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(3), 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhingra, D., & Mishra, D. (2014). Public misconduct among medical professionals in India. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 11(2), 104–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dotterweich, D., & Garrison, S. (1998). Research ethics of business academic researchers at AACSB institutions. Teaching Business Ethics, 1(4), 431–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eastwood, S., Derish, P., Leash, E., & Ordway, S. (1996). Ethical issues in biomedical research: Perceptions and practices of postdoctoral research fellows responding to a survey. Science and Engineering Ethics, 2(1), 89–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Errami, M., Hicks, J., Fisher, W., Trusty, D., Wren, J., Long, T. C., et al. (2008). Deja vu a study of duplicate citations in medline. Bioinformatics, 24(2), 243–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Errami, M., Sun, Z., Long, T. C., George, A. C., and Garner, H. R. (2009). Déjà vu: A database of highly similar citations in the scientific literature. Nucleic Acids Research, 37(Database issue), D921-4.

  • Fanelli, D. (2009). How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data. PLoS ONE, 4(5), e5738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanelli, D. (2010). “Positive” results increase down the Hierarchy of the Sciences. PLoS ONE, 5, e10068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanelli, D. (2013). Why growing retractions are (mostly) a good sign. PLoS Medicine, 10(12), e1001563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanelli, D., & Glänzel, W. (2013). Bibliometric evidence for a hierarchy of the sciences. PLoS ONE, 8(6), e66938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanelli, D., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2013). US studies may overestimate effect sizes in softer research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(37), 15031–15036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, F. C., Steen, R. G., & Casadevall, A. (2012). Misconduct accounts for the majority of retracted scientific publications. PNAS, 109(42), 17028–17033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. J. (1993). Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(2), 303–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geggie, D. (2001). A survey of newly appointed consultants’ attitudes towards research fraud. Journal of Medical Ethics, 27(5), 344–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giles, J. (2005). Taking on the cheats. Nature, 435, 258–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godecharle, S., Nemery, B., & Dierickx, K. (2013). Guidance on research integrity: No union in Europe. Lancet, 381, 1097–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M., & Goldberg, L. (1994). Ethical challenges to risk scientists: An exploratory analysis of survey data. Science, Technology and Human Values, 19(2), 223–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honig, B., & Bedi, A. (2012). The fox in the hen house: A critical examination of plagiarism among members of the academy of management. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(1), 101–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horrom, T. A. (2012). Response to Horrom TA. The perils of copy and paste: Plagiarism in scientific publishing. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 49(8), vii–xii.

  • Ioannidis, J. P. (2008). Interpretation of tests of heterogeneity and bias in meta-analysis. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 14(5), 951–957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John, L., Loewenstein, G., & Prelec, D. (2012). Measuring the prevalence of questionable research practices with incentives for truth telling. Psychological Science, 23(5), 524–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalichman, M. W., & Friedman, P. J. (1992). A pilot-study of biomedical trainees perceptions concerning research ethics. Academic Medicine, 67(11), 769–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kattenbraker, M. S. (2007). Health education research and publication: Ethical considerations and the response of health educators. PhD thesis, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, United States.

  • Kleikamp, E. (2013). CrossCheck-EES integration go-live date announced. http://editorsupdate.elsevier.com/short-communications/crosscheck-ees-integration-go-live-date-announced/. Accessed 9 July 2014.

  • Koklu, N. (2003). Views of academicians on research ethics. Journal of Educational Sciences & Practices, 2(4), 138–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipsey, M. W., & Wilson, D. B. (2000). Practical Meta-Analysis. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macaskill, P., Walter, S. D., & Irwig, L. (2001). A comparison of methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. Statistics in Medicine, 20(4), 641–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, B. R. (2013). Whither research integrity? Plagiarism, self-plagiarism and coercive citation in an age of research assessment. Research Policy, 42(5), 1005–1014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, B. C., Anderson, M. S., Crain, A. L., & Vries, R. D. (2006). Scientists’ perceptions of organizational justice and self-reported misbehaviors. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: An International Journal, 1(1), 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, B. C., Anderson, M. S., & De Vries, R. (2005). Scientists behaving badly. Nature, 435(7043), 737–738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinson, B. C., Crain, A. L., De Vries, R., & Anderson, M. S. (2010). The importance of organizational justice in ensuring research integrity. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 5(3), 67–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marušić, A., Bošnjak, L., & Jerončić, A. (2011). A systematic review of research on the meaning, ethics and practices of authorship across scholarly disciplines. PLoS ONE, 6(9), e23477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May, C., Campbell, S., & Doyle, H. (1998). research misconduct: A pilot study of British addiction researchers. Addiction Research & Theory, 6(4), 371–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilstun, T., Löfmark, R., & Lundqvist, A. (2010). Scientific dishonesty—questionnaire to doctoral students in Sweden. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36(5), 315–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NSF. (2013). Semiannual Report to the Congress. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/oig14001/oig14001.pdf. Accessed 14 April 2014.

  • Okonta, P., & Rossouw, T. (2013). Prevalence of scientific misconduct among a group of researchers in nigeria. Developing World Bioethics, 13(3), 149–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ORI. (1994). Policy on plagiarism. ORI Newsletter, 3(1).http://ori.hhs.gov/ori-policy-plagiarism. Accessed 8 Augest 2014.

  • ORI. (2000–2011). The office of research integrity annual report. http://ori.hhs.gov/annual_reports. Accessed 14 March 2014.

  • Plagiarism pinioned. (2010). Nature, 466(7303): 159–160.

  • Randall, D., & Fernandes, M. (1991). The social desirability response bias in ethics research. Journal of Business Ethics, 10(11), 805–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich, E. (2010). Self-plagiarism case prompts calls for agencies to tighten rules. Nature, 468, 745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resnik, D. (1998). The ethics of science. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resnik, D., & Master, Z. (2013). Policies and initiatives aimed at addressing research misconduct in high-income countries. PLoS Medicine, 10(3), e1001406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resnik, D. B., & Zeng, W. (2010). Research integrity in China: Problems and prospects. Developing World Bioethics, 10(3), 164–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steneck, N. H. (1994). Research universities and scientific misocnduct. Journal of Higher Education, 65(3), 310–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Supak-Smolcic, V., & Simundic, A. M. (2013). Biochemia medica has started using the crosscheck plagiarism detection software powered by iThenticate. Biochemia Medica, 23(2), 139–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swazey, J., Anderson, M., & Louis, K. (1993). Ethical problems in academic research. American Scientist, 81, 542–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tangney, J. P. (1987). Fraud will out-or will it? New Scientist, 115(1572), 62–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terrin, N., Schmid, C. H., Lau, J., & Olkin, I. (2003). Adjusting for publication bias in the presence of heterogeneity. Statistics in Medicine, 22, 2113–2126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Titus, S. L., Wells, J. A., & Rhoades, L. J. (2008). Repairing research integrity. Nature, 453(7198), 980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Federal Research Misconduct Policy. (2000) http://www.aps.org/policy/statements/federalpolicy.cfm. Accessed 12 May 2014.

  • Viechtbauer, W. (2010). Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software, 36(3), 1–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wager, E. (2011). How should editors respond to plagiarism? COPE discussion paper. http://publicationethics.org/resources/discussion-documents. Accessed 12 June 2014.

  • Wager, E., Fiack, S., Graf, C., Robinson, A., & Rowlands, I. (2009). Science journal editors’ views on publication ethics: Results of an international survey. Journal of Medical Ethics, 35, 348–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Y. H., & Jia, X. (2012). A survey on the use of CrossCheck for detecting plagiarism in journal articles. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE (A/B/C) PR China, 25(4), 292–307.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Mladen Petrovečki for scientific guidance, Lidija Bilić-Zulle, Ksenija Baždarić and Martina Mavrinac for helpful discussions, Fatime Havin Kaya for assistance with the translation from Turkish, and Dora Karmelić for assistance with the collection of data. Author contributions: designed research: DF and VP; collected data: VP; analyzed data: DF; wrote the paper: DF and VP. The study is a part of two scientific projects: “Scientific plagiarism, its prevalence and features” (No. 13.06.1.2.29) and “Knowledge about research integrity at University of Rijeka” (No. 3 %-12-33) both supported by the University of Rijeka.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical informatics, School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Brace Branchetta 20, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Vanja Pupovac

  2. EBSI - École de Bibliothéconomie et des Sciences de l’information, Université de Montréal, room c-2004, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 rue Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Daniele Fanelli

Authors
  1. Vanja Pupovac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniele Fanelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniele Fanelli.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 160 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (DOC 154 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pupovac, V., Fanelli, D. Scientists Admitting to Plagiarism: A Meta-analysis of Surveys. Sci Eng Ethics 21, 1331–1352 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9600-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9600-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation