Research integrity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of health science researchers at an Academic Health Science Center

ABSTRACT

During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, a complex mix of political pressure, social urgency, public panic, and scientific curiosity has significantly impacted the context of research and development. The goal of this study is to understand if and how researchers are shifting their practices and adjusting norms and beliefs regarding research ethics and integrity. We have conducted 31 interviews with Health Science Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch which were then analyzed using integrated deductive and inductive coding. We categorized participant views into four main areas: 1) limitations to the research design, 2) publication, 3) duplication of studies, and 4) research pipeline. Although certain researchers were in keeping to the status quo, more were willing to modify norms to address social need and urgency. Notably, they were more likely to opt for systemic change rather than modifications within their own research practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Research ethics
• research integrity
• COVID-19
• publication
• scientific system

Acknowledgments

We would also like to thank David Resnik and Sara Chandros Hull for their insights when developing the questionnaire of this study. We would like to thank the participants of this study for their insights and time.

Disclosure statement

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Notes

1. We decided to divide the work into two publications to ensure a “thick description” of events that adequately captures the diversity of perspectives from the researchers.

2. These tables are also in another article on the relational issues during COVID-19 (Smith, E. in review).

3. CDC stands for the US Center for Disease Control.

4. FDA stands for the US Food and Drug Administration.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part from the Clinical and Translational Science Award [UL1TR001439] from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health.