Research Integrity Guidelines Give Limited Attention to Structural Inequalities
A new study has found that research integrity and ethics guidelines worldwide largely address fairness through procedures such as authorship, peer review and investigations into research misconduct. Structural inequalities shaping research systems and power relations in knowledge production receive less attention.
Published on 2 September in the Journal of Academic Ethics, the study, “Fairness in Research Integrity Guidelines Across the World: A Critical Discourse Analysis”, examined 66 national and international research integrity guidelines and codes of conduct from 39 countries. It assessed how the documents define fairness and address inequality, colonial legacies and inclusion.
Around half of the documents included concepts related to inclusion, although their use and scope varied considerably. More than half either did not address inclusion at all or treated it largely in symbolic terms.
Few guidelines explicitly addressed structural issues such as the one-sided transfer of knowledge and resources, injustices in knowledge production and socio-economic inequalities. None directly used the term “colonialism”, and only a small number discussed inequalities in knowledge production between countries.
The researchers noted that many existing research integrity standards are developed in economically powerful countries and subsequently applied worldwide. The study linked this approach to “ethical imperialism”, highlighting the risk that diverse knowledge systems and local ethical approaches may not receive adequate consideration.