Very few research integrity cases begin with someone deciding to cheat. Most begin with a process gap — a note taken without a source, an image adjusted without a record, an approval assumed rather than obtained.
Where expectations differ across systems
- What counts as text reuse from your own earlier work.
- Whether ethics approval is needed for interview or survey work.
- How much image adjustment is acceptable.
- Whether raw data must be retained, and for how long.
- Assuming your home rules apply is the common failure.
Text reuse
- Reusing your own methods paragraph still requires citing the earlier paper.
- Copyright often sits with the publisher, not with you.
- Many researchers do not know this is an issue.
Images and figures
- Adjustments must apply to the whole image, not to a region.
- Keep the originals; journals increasingly ask for them.
- Record every processing step.
Approvals
- Obtain them before collecting, never retrospectively.
- Multi-country work may need approval in each country.
- Ask the local office rather than assuming.
If you find an error in published work
- Contact the journal and request a correction.
- Correcting your own error is respected, not penalised.
- Silence when you know is far more damaging.
One thing worth remembering
Keep original unprocessed images and raw data, with a record of every step applied.
The question is not whether you would misrepresent anything — it is whether you can demonstrate you did not, three years later, when someone asks and your memory of the processing is gone.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
How do most integrity cases begin?
With a process gap — a note taken without a source, an image adjusted without a record, an approval assumed rather than obtained.
Where do expectations differ across systems?
What counts as reuse of your own text, whether ethics approval is needed for interviews or surveys, how much image adjustment is acceptable, and data retention requirements.
Does reusing your own text need citation?
Yes — reusing your own methods paragraph still requires citing the earlier paper, and copyright often sits with the publisher.
What are the rules on images?
Adjustments must apply to the whole image rather than a region, originals must be kept, and every processing step recorded.
What if you find an error in your published work?
Contact the journal and request a correction — correcting your own error is respected, while silence when you know is far more damaging.
