3rd Year MBBS • Infection and Inflammation
Research Ethics, Research Misconduct and Referencing
Connect the key ethical principles, research-integrity problems and referencing concepts for rapid revision.
1. THE TOPIC IN ONE CONNECTED FLOW
Good research must protect participants, produce useful knowledge, remain honest, and acknowledge the work of others. Research ethics guides how participants are treated, while research integrity guides how data and ideas are handled. Referencing then provides a clear link between borrowed information and its original source.
Ethical Research
Protect rights, dignity and safety
→
Core Principles
Autonomy • Beneficence • Non-maleficence • Justice
→
Ethical Reasoning
Deontology • Utilitarianism • Virtue ethics
→
Research Integrity
Report data and ideas honestly
→
Avoid Misconduct
No fabrication, falsification or plagiarism
→
Proper Referencing
Citation → full reference → appropriate style
2. KEY CLINICAL CONNECTIONS
Participant Protection
Informed voluntary choice → Autonomy
Reduce unnecessary harm → Non-maleficence
Promote useful benefit → Beneficence
Fair participant selection → Justice
Reduce unnecessary harm → Non-maleficence
Promote useful benefit → Beneficence
Fair participant selection → Justice
Misconduct Distinction
Invent nonexistent data → Fabrication
Alter genuine data → Falsification
Use another’s work without credit → Plagiarism
Alter genuine data → Falsification
Use another’s work without credit → Plagiarism
Referencing Logic
Statement linked to source → Citation
Full source details → Reference
Sources consulted, including uncited material → Bibliography
Full source details → Reference
Sources consulted, including uncited material → Bibliography
3. AIM HIGH-YIELD INTEGRATION REVIEW
⭐ Autonomy → informed and voluntary decision-making by the participant.
Beneficence → maximize useful benefit, while non-maleficence → minimize avoidable harm.
Justice → fair selection of participants and fair distribution of research burdens and benefits.
Deontology → duty and rules; utilitarianism → overall consequences; virtue ethics → moral character.
⭐ Invent data → fabrication; alter existing data → falsification.
⭐ Use another person’s words or ideas without proper acknowledgment → plagiarism.
Citation links text to a source → reference gives full source details → bibliography may include additional consulted sources.
⭐ Medical projects commonly use Vancouver; APA and Harvard use author-date approaches. Follow the style required by the institution or journal and use it consistently.
AIM Exam Trap:
Fabrication creates data that never existed; falsification changes data that already existed. Paraphrasing another author’s idea without acknowledgment is still plagiarism.
Fabrication creates data that never existed; falsification changes data that already existed. Paraphrasing another author’s idea without acknowledgment is still plagiarism.