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. 2022 Sep 24;15(1):309.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06191-0.

The failure of success: four lessons learned in five years of research on research integrity and research assessments

Noémie Aubert Bonn  1 , Raymond G De Vries  2 , Wim Pinxten  3
Affiliations

The failure of success: four lessons learned in five years of research on research integrity and research assessments

Noémie Aubert Bonn et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

In the past 5 years, we captured the perspectives from a broad array of research stakeholders to better understand the impact that current approaches to success and research assessment may have on the integrity and the quality of research. Here, we translate our findings in four actions that are urgently needed to foster better research. First, we need to address core research structures to overcome systemic problems of the research enterprise; second, we must realign research assessments to value elements that advance and strengthen science; third, we need to remodel, diversify, and secure research careers; and finally, we need to unite and coordinate efforts for change.

Keywords: Diversity; Precarity; Publication pressure; Research assessment; Research culture; Research integrity; System change.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no formal competing interests with the information contained in this article. NAB is currently working on several projects concerning research assessment through her employments as policy advisor at Research England (UKRI) and as postdoctoral researcher at Amsterdam University Medical Centers in which numerous research integrity activities and projects are taking place, but she did not identify a conflicting interest between this short Research Note and her employment. NAB and WP continue to work on the topic of research assessments at Hasselt University and therefore have an intellectual interest in the topic and in new developments in academia, but they have no formal conflicting interests related to this short Research Note.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The three core methodologies used to gather our findings
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Four recommendations to help overcome the current problems of science
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aubert Bonn N, Pinxten W. Advancing science or advancing careers? researchers’ opinions on success indicators. PLoS ONE. 2021;16(2):e0243664. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243664. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aubert Bonn N, Pinxten W. A decade of empirical research on research integrity: what have we (not) looked at? J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2019;14(4):338–352. doi: 10.1177/1556264619858534. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aubert Bonn N, Pinxten W. Rethinking success, integrity, and culture in research (part 2)—a multi-actor qualitative study on problems of science. Res Integrity Peer Rev. 2021;6(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s41073-020-00105-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aubert Bonn N, Pinxten W. Rethinking success, integrity, and culture in research (part 1)—a multi-actor qualitative study on success in science. Res Integr Peer Rev. 2021;6(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s41073-020-00104-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rethinking success, integrity, and culture in science (Re-SInC) open science framework https://osf.io/ap4kn/.

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