Analysis of research integrity construction policy based on the cases of research misconduct by the National Natural Science Foundation of China from 2013 to 2022
Objective This study compiled a comprehensive overview of the academic misconduct cases handled by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)over the past decade,and took it as a representative to analyze the cur-rent situation of China's academic research integrity to propose further enhancement suggestions.Methods We collected data on academic misconduct cases notified by the NSFC between 2013 and 2022,and conducted a statistical analysis to gain insights into the time of occurrence,the way of discovery,the distribution of disciplines,the types of misconduct,and the handling measures of the NSFC.Results Between 2013 to 2022,the Funding Committee notified 273 decisions regarding misconduct cases,indicating a general upward trend over time.Among the 158 cases with a labeled discovery pathway,the most common way was funding paper retraction by scientific journals,followed by reporting,and then review by the Funding Committee.The majority of individuals involved were from universities(44.81％)and hospitals affiliated with universities(45.45％).The top three most frequent types of misconduct were plagiarism,manipulation of reviews,and falsification.The Fund Committee's handling measures primarily involved in restrictions on applying for national funds within 2～7 years,notifications and criti-cisms,project withdrawals,and fund recoveries.Conclusions Over the past ten years,the number of investigations of aca-demic misconduct by the Fund Committee has been increasing,and the way of discovery has shifted from reporting and retrac-tion by research journals to self-investigation by the Fund Committee.Biomedicine is a key field where misconduct occurs,and universities are the primary institutions where such cases are detected.Common causes of academic misconduct include plagia-rism,manipulated peer review,and falsification.The foundation typically imposes punishments that restrict funding applica-tions and issues public criticisms.To strengthen the academic integrity system,it is essential to establish and implement an ear-ly warning mechanism for academic integrity,reform the scientific research evaluation system,and establish an academic integ-rity management platform.
Academic integrityNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaPolicy analysis
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
