Promoting Research Integrity in Africa: An African Voice of Concern on Research Misconduct and the Way Forward

African researchers and their collaborators have been making significant contributions to useful research findings and discoveries in Africa. Despite evidence of scientific misconduct even in heavily regulated research environments, there is little documented information that supports prevalence of research misconduct in Africa. Available literature on research misconduct has focused on the developed world, where credible research integrity systems are already in place. Public attention to research misconduct has lately increased, calling for attention to weaknesses in current research policies and regulatory frameworks. Africa needs policies, structural and governance systems that promote responsible conduct of research. To begin to offset this relative lack of documented evidence of research misconduct, contributors working in various research institutions from nine African countries agreed to share their experiences to highlight problems and explore the need to identify strategies to promote research integrity in the African continent. The experiences shared include anecdotal but reliable accounts of previously undocumented research misconduct, including some ‘normal misbehavior’ of frontline staff in those countries. Two broad approaches to foster greater research integrity are proposed including promotion of institutional and individual capacity building to instil a culture of responsible research conduct in existing and upcoming research scientist and developing deterrent and corrective policies to minimize research misconduct and other questionable research practices. By sharing these experiences and through the strategies proposed, the authors hope to limit the level of research misconduct and promote research integrity in Africa.     

BENEFITS TO RESEARCH SUBJECTS IN INTERNATIONAL TRIALS: DO THEY REDUCE EXPLOITATION OR INCREASE UNDUE INDUCEMENT?

There is an alleged tension between undue inducement and exploitation in research trials. This paper considers claims that increasing the benefits to research subjects enrolled in international, externally‐sponsored clinical trials should be avoided on the grounds that it may result in the undue inducement of research subjects. It proceeds from the premise that there are good grounds for thinking that, at least some, international research sponsors exploit trial participants because they do not provide the research population with a fair share of the benefits of research. This provides a prima facie argument for increasing the benefits for research participants. Concern over undue inducement is a legitimate moral concern; however, if this concern is to prevent research populations from receiving their fair share of benefits from research there must be sufficient evidence that these benefits will unduly influence patients’ decision‐making regarding trial participation. This article contributes to the debate about exploitation versus undue inducement by introducing an analysis of the available empirical research into research participants’ motivations and the influence of payments on research subjects’ behaviour and risk assessment. Admittedly, the available research in this field is limited, but the research that has been conducted suggests that financial rewards do not distort research subjects’ behaviour or blind them to the risks involved with research. Therefore, I conclude that research sponsors should prioritise the prevention of exploitation in international research by providing greater benefits to research participants.     

Social sciences for food and health research

Healthier eating is a global challenge for chronic disease control. Food and Health Research in Europe (FAHRE) surveyed research structures and programmes in 32 countries, and reviewed research needs and gaps across nine themes. Food processing and safety research, nutrition and molecular research, and disease-based clinical research are strong; but research is weak on determinants of disease and healthier eating through policies and changing behaviours. Biomedical and commercial research for patents contrast with social research for the public interest. More funding and capacity support should go to social research in the food and health sector.     

科研与旅游

科研与旅游在一些方面是相似,乃至相通的。科研是在浩瀚知识海洋中的旅游。具体地说,均有准备、过程和总结三个阶段。最精彩的是其过程。科研与旅游的精髓是发现和享受。享受旅游,享受科研,享受生活,享受人生。     

How Can the Operating Environment for Nutrition Research Be Improved in Sub-Saharan Africa? The Views of African Researchers

Optimal nutrition is critical for human development and economic growth. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing high levels of food insecurity and only few sub-Saharan African countries are on track to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Effective research capacity is crucial for addressing emerging challenges and designing appropriate mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. A clear understanding of the operating environment for nutrition research in sub-Saharan Africa is a much needed prerequisite. We collected data on the barriers and requirements for conducting nutrition research in sub-Saharan Africa through semi-structured interviews with 144 participants involved in nutrition research in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 133 interviews were retained for coding. The main barriers identified for effective nutrition research were the lack of funding due to poor recognition by policymakers of the importance of nutrition research and under-utilisation of research findings for developing policy, as well as an absence of research priority setting from within Africa. Current research topics were perceived to be mainly determined by funding bodies from outside Africa. Nutrition researchers argued for more commitment from policymakers at national level. The low capacity for nutrition research was mainly seen as a consequence of insufficient numbers of nutrition researchers, limited skills and a poor research infrastructure. In conclusion, African nutrition researchers argued how research priorities need to be identified by African stakeholders, accompanied by consensus building to enable creating a problem-driven national research agenda. In addition, it was considered necessary to promote interactions among researchers, and between researchers and policymakers. Multidisciplinary research and international and cross-African collaboration were seen as crucial to build capacity in sub-Saharan nutrition research.     

军队医院科研创新存在的问题及对策分析

科学技术是第一生产力,科技的进步是医学不断发展的基础。随着我国医疗卫生体制改革的不断推进,医院科研管理的作 用越来越突出。近年来,军队医院的科研实力和水平面临着巨大的挑战。因此,建立完善的科研机制,实施科研创新战略是推动卫 生事业改革与发展的动力。科研创新是指在立项、论证、研究方法、数据处理等科研活动中所表现出的与前人不同的思维方式和 行为方式。科研活动本身是以现有的现象、认知和习惯为基础的活动,凭借知识和经验预测科研可能达到的科学目的。在不同层 次对人们熟悉的思维方式高度抽象或转换,是科研创新的主要特征。本研究分析现阶段军队医院科研管理存在的问题,探讨科研 创新的必要性,强调医院科研管理应贯彻系统化思想,建立多元化科研模式。     

The association between four citation metrics and peer rankings of research influence of Australian researchers in six fields of public health

Doubt about the relevance, appropriateness and transparency of peer review has promoted the use of citation metrics as a viable adjunct or alternative in the assessment of research impact. It is also commonly acknowledged that research metrics will not replace peer review unless they are shown to correspond with the assessment of peers. This paper evaluates the relationship between researchers' influence as evaluated by their peers and various citation metrics representing different aspects of research output in 6 fields of public health in Australia. For four fields, the results showed a modest positive correlation between different research metrics and peer assessments of research influence. However, for two fields, tobacco and injury, negative or no correlations were found. This suggests a peer understanding of research influence within these fields differed from visibility in the mainstream, peer-reviewed scientific literature. This research therefore recommends the use of both peer review and metrics in a combined approach in assessing research influence. Future research evaluation frameworks intent on incorporating metrics should first analyse each field closely to determine what measures of research influence are valued highly by members of that research community. This will aid the development of comprehensive and relevant frameworks with which to fairly and transparently distribute research funds or approve promotion applications.     

共词分析国内外生物信息学领域研究态势

生物信息学作为自然科学领域中多学科交叉的新兴学科,其发展研究得到了众多学者的关注。为了解生物信息学在国内外的研究态势,以CNKI中文数据库和Web of science外文数据库中生物信息学领域期刊论文为研究对象,利用R语言编程工具,文献计量和共词分析归纳了国内外生物信息学领域的研究现状、热点及趋势。结果表明:国内外生物信息学研究均处于高速发展期,文献量呈逐年增长趋势,研究领域也在不断拓宽;国内外研究热点均聚焦在基因挖掘、蛋白质结构与功能预测、miRNA分析等,但国内偏向于理论研究,而国际更注重其在疾病治疗、药物设计等方面的应用研究。     

A Framework to Link International Clinical Research to the Promotion of Justice in Global Health

How international research might contribute to justice in global health has not been substantively addressed by bioethics. Theories of justice from political philosophy establish obligations for parties from high‐income countries owed to parties from low and middle‐income countries. We have developed a new framework that is based on Jennifer Ruger's health capability paradigm to strengthen the link between international clinical research and justice in global health. The ‘research for health justice’ framework provides direction on three aspects of international clinical research: the research target, research capacity strengthening, and post‐trial benefits. It identifies the obligations of justice owed by national governments, research funders, research sponsors, and investigators to trial participants and host communities. These obligations vary from those currently articulated in international research ethics guidelines. Ethical requirements of a different kind are needed if international clinical research is to advance global health equity.     

Synthetic biology: an emerging research field in China

Synthetic biology is considered as an emerging research field that will bring new opportunities to biotechnology. There is an expectation that synthetic biology will not only enhance knowledge in basic science, but will also have great potential for practical applications. Synthetic biology is still in an early developmental stage in China. We provide here a review of current Chinese research activities in synthetic biology and its different subfields, such as research on genetic circuits, minimal genomes, chemical synthetic biology, protocells and DNA synthesis, using literature reviews and personal communications with Chinese researchers. To meet the increasing demand for a sustainable development, research on genetic circuits to harness biomass is the most pursed research within Chinese researchers. The environmental concerns are driven force of research on the genetic circuits for bioremediation. The research on minimal genomes is carried on identifying the smallest number of genomes needed for engineering minimal cell factories and research on chemical synthetic biology is focused on artificial proteins and expanded genetic code. The research on protocells is more in combination with the research on molecular-scale motors. The research on DNA synthesis and its commercialisation are also reviewed. As for the perspective on potential future Chinese R&D activities, it will be discussed based on the research capacity and governmental policy.     

研究性教学模式在"植物的抗逆生理"教学中的应用

阐述了研究性教学的内涵及将之引入"植物的抗逆生理"教学的必要性,并介绍了开展研究性教学活动过程,评价了其教学效果.在此基础上就研究性教学模式下研究专题的选择、学生的成绩考核指标及教师扮演的角色等内容进行了讨论.     

Differential Impact of Science Policy on Subfields of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

In this research, we examine how restrictive policy influenced performance in human embryonic stem cell research (hESC) between 1998 and 2008. In previous research, researchers argued whether restrictive policy decreased the performance of stem cell research in some nations, especially in the US. Here, we hypothesize that this policy influenced specific subfields of the hESC research. To investigate the selective policy effects, we categorize hESC research publications into three subfields—derivation, differentiation, and medical application research. Our analysis shows that restrictive policy had different effects on different subfields. In general, the US outperformed in overall hESC research throughout these periods. In the derivation of hESC, however, the US almost lost its competence under restrictive policy. Interestingly, the US scientific community showed prominent resilience in hESC research through international collaboration. We concluded that the US resilience and performance stemmed from the wide breadth of research portfolio of US scientists across the hESC subfields, combined with their strategic efforts to collaborate internationally on derivation research.     

Importance of basic research in applied phycology

Utilization of algae has extended considerably from the middle of this century, with the consequence of more and more applied research in various directions and fields, the most important of which deals with phycocolloid production and algal cultivation to provide raw material and foodstuff. It is noteworthy that this research can not avoid the use of knowledge obtained by basic research; applied phycology is especially indebted to basic research in adopting biotechnologies which are typically coming from basic research. In counterpart, such a situation is beneficial to basic research. According to the dependence of applied phycology to basic research and the fact that restricted research programs only are nowadays financially supported, the fate of all research seems to be questionable.     

勤云测试

【】充分考虑高校教学和社会服务职能以及内部资源分配对科研活动的影响,本文提出一个研究我国高校知识生产创造活动的理论框架,并基于教育部直属高校2000-2008年的统计数据进行了实证分析。研究发现,高校参与科研活动的高级职称研究人员的比例对发明专利申请增加有显著影响;重视基础研究有助于增加SCI论文;在校本专科生规模对科研产出有负面影响,而研究生数量的增加则对科研活动有积极贡献;加强与企业联系有助于增加高校的发明专利申请和EI期刊论文。     

On the Alleged Right to Participate in High‐Risk Research

Reigning regulatory frameworks for biomedical research impose on researchers and research ethics committees an obligation to protect research participants from risks that are unnecessary, disproportionate to potential research benefits, and non‐minimized. Where the research has no potential to produce results of direct benefit to the subjects and the subjects are unable to give consent, these requirements are strengthened by an additional condition, that risks should not exceed a certain minimal threshold. In this article, I address the question of whether there should be limits of permissible risks in non‐therapeutic research involving competent and healthy subjects. Some commentators argue that competent and informed individuals should have a right to participate even in extremely risky research and that research ethics committees should never reject studies because they are too dangerous. To use David Shaw's expression, competent volunteers should have ‘a right to participate in high‐risk research’. I argue that this idea is ill‐founded, as it does not take into account the social mission and complex collaborative nature of research practice as well as the inequity of power between researchers and subjects. Imposition of limits on permissible risks for healthy volunteers is justified by the need to protect research enterprise and the need to protect the weaker party, namely the subjects. Also, I suggest that the best way to set boundaries on research risks is to leave the judgment of risk acceptability to research ethics committees.     

基于Citespace软件的生态风险知识图谱分析

伴随着重大环境事件频发,环境污染、生态破坏现象的日益严峻,生态风险研究受到各国学者和政府的广泛关注。对整个生态风险研究领域进行全面系统的分析,旨在探究研究热点及趋势,归纳研究主题演进,了解当前国际研究现状。以Web of Science数据库为数据源,利用Citespace软件,绘制生态风险研究知识图谱,进行文献可视化分析。研究发现:(1)国际生态风险研究的发文数量经历了缓慢增长-平稳增长-迅速增长3个阶段;(2)生态风险研究分为奠基期,成长期,拓展期3个阶段,各阶段研究热点不同,当前研究热点是"空间分布、生态系统服务、城市土壤、源解析、海洋沉积物";(3)生态风险研究由单一风险源、风险受体、小尺度的评价演化为多种风险源、多种风险受体的大尺度综合评价;(4)欧美国家、学者奠定了该领域的研究基础,中国起步较晚但发展迅速。     

我院加强科研管理工作的实践与体会

分析了医院科研管理中存在的主要问题,从科研管理人员管理创新、健全科研经费管理制度、创新人才培养机制、完善科研激励机制入手,加强医院科研管理工作,提高了医院的科研水平。     

Current aging research in China

The mini-review stemmed from a recent meeting on national aging research strategies in China discusses the components and challenges of aging research in China. Highlighted are the major efforts of a number of research teams, funding situations and outstanding examples of recent major research achievements. Finally, authors discuss potential targets and strategies of aging research in China.     

谈“教学型高校”加大科研力度的必要性

‘教学型’高校教师的主要工作是教学,科研工作处于时断时续的状态。针对以上现实,本文指出了“教学型高校”加大科研力度的必要性,并就目前的科研现实提出切实可行的改进措施。①教学与科研不是独立的两个方面,而是相互促进的一个整体,加大‘教学型’高校的科研力度可以达到教学、科研的互利双赢。科研应该逐渐成为‘教学型高校’教师的重要工作内容。②重视科研也是重视教学,提高教学质量以及围绕教学进行的评估、教改等各项举措,也应该从加大科研力度的角度进行：教师有了科研工作,自然需要学生参与;而学生加入到教师的科研活动,不仅是对学生动手能力、创新意识的最好培养,更将明显提高学生学习理论知识的积极性,提高听课效率。③改善‘教学型高校’科研工作的现状,可从设立研究型教师岗位和减少行政指令性活动等方面入手。     

What research with stored samples teaches us about research with human subjects

There is widespread discussion concerning the safeguards appropriate for human research subjects. Less discussed is the fact that the safeguards one deems appropriate depend, in large part, on the model of research participation that one assumes. Therefore, to determine what safeguards are appropriate, it is necessary first to clarify the competing models of research participation. The ostensibly obscure debate over informed consent for research on stored biological samples is of particular interest in this regard because such research can involve varying subsets of the three central elements of research involvement. As a result, analysis of this debate provides an opportunity to identify the competing models of research participation. Based on this analysis, this paper describes a new model of research participation that is emerging, and considers its implications for clinical research.