Future of Medical Education Journal

Future of Medical Education Journal

Assessment of Awareness of Research Misconduct among Interns in Nigeria

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Daha Garba Muhammad 1
Umar Bello 2
Fatima Bashir Shema 3
Zakariyya Muhammad Bello 3
Paul Gadzama 2
1 Physiotherapy Department, General Hospital Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria
2 Chemical Pathology Department, Federal Medical Center Yola, Nigeria
3 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Kano, Nigeria
10.22038/fmej.2022.59791.1425
Abstract
Background: Research is the source of evidence for all medical and allied procedures. Research misconducts are wrongdoings during the conduct of research which can be committed intentionally or ignorantly. Research misconduct includes plagiarism, falsification and fabrication of results. Novice researchers may commit misconduct unaware of it being an unwanted practice. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the awareness of interns of research misconduct.
Method: The present study was a cross sectional survey that utilized a questionnaire to obtain information on research misconduct among 53 interns at Federal medical center Yola, Nigeria using a purposive sampling technique. Data analysis was done using SPSS V20 utilizing frequency and percentage to summarize the data and chi-square to assess association between categorical variables.
Results: Majority (35.7%) of the participants were within the age range of 26-30. Males were 34 (65.4%) and mostly nurses were 17 (32.5%). Majority of the participants 45 (86.5%) were aware of informed consent but only less than two-fifth (2/5) were aware of declaration of Helsinki. More than 4/5 of the participants were aware of plagiarism (86.8%), fabrication (94.3%) and falsification (86.6%) of results in research.
Conclusion: Participants in this study showed a significant level of awareness of research misconduct.
Keywords
Awareness
Plagiarism
Salami slicing
Fabrication
Research misconduct
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Future of Medical Education Journal
Volume 12, Issue 2
Spring 2022
Pages 9-14