Academic Integrity in Crisis: A Systematic Analysis of Questionable Research Practices; Taxonomy and Dictionary

Ethically ambiguous practices within scientific research threaten the integrity of the researchers themselves as well as the integrity of the world knowledge base as a whole. Systemic pressures for researchers to publish a high quantity of research and garner large numbers of citations incentivize them to engage in questionable research practices (QRPs). This research aimed to describe and classify existing QRPs through a hierarchical taxonomy. This repository contains a visual diagram of the full taxonomy and corresponding dictionary of QRPs. The taxonomy is divided into individual QRPs and organizational QRPs and further classified by type of QRP. Each QRP has a corresponding entry within the dictionary, which defines the QRP and provides a case from the literature that illustrates the concept. This taxonomy is not designed to place blame on individual researchers but rather provide a description of the current state of QRPs and the systemic issues causing them. This research will serve as a basis for future research into QRPs and inform policy decisions on protecting the integrity of the world knowledge base.