Introduction
In modern society, violations of the norms of scientific ethics have become a big problem. These include plagiarism, falsification of empirical material, fabrication of references to non-existent works, incorrect citation, undeserved authorship, sale of dissertations, sabotage. The above types of violations of ethical standards can be qualified as specific forms of fraud in science. Research fraud carries a severe risk of developing the field of study of various problems. Moreover, cheating in academic work can have a negative impact on the development of society and people’s lives.
Citing Material
The link to the source serves as a fact-checking tool. Accuracy is crucial for any written document, especially regarding science. The act of looking for a link confirms the accuracy of the direct quotation recheck, ensures the correctness of the sentence paraphrasing, and also serves as a link to other research. Good research’s hallmarks include attention to detail and the ability to discern patterns and draw parallels. The practice of quoting will help with both of these aspects. Proper citation of sources entails many details, such as the correct page numbers, the spelling of author’s names, and, of course, the accuracy of the facts in the article or other work. Attention to detail in one aspect will automatically instill good habits in research areas.
Academic Honesty and Integrity
Correct references to the material in scientific papers are aspects of academic honesty and integrity. Academic integrity is a set of values and principles of honesty and respect that guide students’ studies. Academic integrity is a fundamental principle in creating works, which implies a set of value attitudes, abilities, and skills to develop and strengthen ethical standards in the study framework.
The problem of academic dishonesty is one of the most difficult in experimental psychology. Much depends on the criterion of deception itself. Considering the traditional way, conscientiousness largely relies on the objectivity of the method, the adequacy of the methods used to the goals and hypotheses of the study, and on the representativeness of the studied samples (Kurambayev 678). The problem of unscrupulous research in modern conditions is complicated by insufficient funding for scientific developments, the lack of a sufficient amount of necessary equipment and experimental sites.
Plagiarism
One of the main types of violation of the author’s conscientiousness is plagiarism. For the author, plagiarism is dangerous because if someone passes off his work as his own, this leads to a decrease in his own merits. The appropriation of intellectual property violates the law and levels the creation of an actual creator. If the creator does not have copyright ownership evidence, another person will copy and monetize his work.
In the modern scientific space, the concept of plagiarism is referred to as a violation of publication ethics. This phenomenon is not supported by researchers, reviewers, and journal editors (Kurambayev 672). A considerable number of reviews of a scientific article are due to plagiarism in it. Proving plagiarism with the help of a court is quite tricky. In this situation, the prominent role is played by the responsibility of the scientist, the ethical side (Kurambayev 671). The reputation of the researcher can suffer greatly. This serves as the lever to make the scientist avoid plagiarism. Due to plagiarism in an article, a journal may refuse to publish a scientist or withdraw material from an already published issue (Kuramabayev 672). The publication needs to secure its reputation and rating. The editors, especially of international journals, prescribe the percentage of uniqueness in their conditions and strictly adhere to this figure.
The Consequences of Academic Dishonesty
Pseudoscience and related problems cause significant material and moral damage to both science and human society as a whole. Many active engineers and scientists need something to rely on in the publications of scientific and popular science journals. Academic research is the first step in introducing a specific innovative solution to help people or develop society’s potential. Pseudoscience is the introduction to the process of scientific work, scientific publications and discussions of political and religious attitudes, and deliberate falsification of experiments. This notion can also include direct or indirect censorship and methods of criminal fraud using scientific terminology, scientific degrees, and titles, particularly when reviewing scientific works.
The social danger of pseudoscience is that it sometimes irreversibly blocks the development of irremediably essential areas of science, government, and forms of social relations. An example of the social consequences of pseudoscience is associated with social processes. The scientific works of the middle of the 19th century became the basis for the productive narrow specializations of modern sciences (Kurambayev 675). However, their specific results during this time have been repeatedly refined. The social consequences of pseudoscience are closely related to the discrediting of sound politics and democracy. Pseudoscience is becoming the essential means for forcing people in conditions of freedom to choose for themselves suicidal paths of development imposed on them by individual social groups and their leaders.
The Example of Academic Dishonesty
Often the falsification of data is due to the fact that the scientist turns a blind eye to the imperfection of the methodology and ignores the requirements for experiments with people. An employee of Harvard University (USA) and the RIKEN Scientific Institute (Japan), Haruko Obokata, published a sensational article in Nature in January 2014 (“Falsification: Haruko Obokata case”). The work stated that normal cells could be turned into stem cells without interfering with their genetic code simply by exposure to acid (“Falsification: Haruko Obokata case”). A Japanese woman claimed to have obtained mouse stem cells from lymph cells. The study was a breakthrough because it opened the prospect of creating artificial organs and tissues with a low risk of rejection. After all, stem cells can turn into any cells that make up the body. But soon, skeptics noticed discrepancies in the illustrations and the text of the article. In addition, scientists who tried to repeat the experiment failed. Soon, the researcher admitted to falsifying some of the data but continued to insist that she received stem cells more than two hundred times using her method. Such a situation is potentially dangerous, being related to medicine. If the falsification is not noticed, significant issues with future development will endanger people’s lives.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In modern science, academic fraud is very diverse. Taking into account the identified causes of academic fraud, it is necessary to develop effective ways to prevent them. It is more effective to avoid these violations by popularizing the norms of scientific ethics among performers and managers. Science ethics courses at universities, alerting students to scandals and breaches of science ethics, may influence their behavior in the future.
Works Cited
“Falsification: Haruko Obokata case.” Science Integrity Digest, Web.
Kurambayev, Bahtiyar. “The Causes and Consequences of Plagiarism by Journalists in Central Asia.” Asian Studies Review, vol. 44, no. 2, 2020, pp. 691–708.