Standard: Aligning Incentives: Can Registered Reports Encourage Ethical and Responsible Research Practices among Early Career Researchers?

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Academic fraud and failed attempts to replicate research have amplified concerns about scientists’ ethical practices. Registered reports are a new method of publication where peer review and guarantee of publication occurs before data collection. This project tests if registered reports can increase ethical research practices related to transparency and decrease questionable research practices among early career researchers. Lack of job security leaves early career researchers vulnerable to questionable research practices, and early career researchers in departments with publish-or-perish cultural norms may be particularly susceptible. Registered reports are hypothesized to be most effective for this group, as they align the incentives to publish with the value of ethical practices. The project will conclude by designing and evaluating an online intervention meant to help early career researchers understand the benefits and barriers of registered reports. The project will also produce a free online tutorial on submitting registered reports and the ethical implications of doing so, and a series of cross-disciplinary online and in-person workshops that will encourage a culture of ethical research practices through registered reports in a variety of STEM fields. This project explores the impact of registered reports on early career researchers’ research ethics related to transparency and their likelihood of engaging in questionable research practices. The mixed-methods research design uses cross-sectional and longitudinal data to assess the effects of registered reports. The first study tracks authors to assess if registered reports affect ethical research attitudes, values, and behaviors. The second study uses survey research to assess if those who complete registered reports use more ethical research practices. The third study uses data from focus groups to uncover barriers to adopting registered reports among early career faculty. The fourth study uses an online intervention across a range of conditions to assess if the intervention influences early career researchers’ intentions to use registered reports and to identify cultural factors that could modify the efficacy of the intervention. Overall, this project advances scientific knowledge related to research ethics by exploring whether registered reports can act as a mechanism for encouraging ethical research practices among early career researchers. This proposal was funded by the BIO, MPS, and SBE directorates. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.