Inflated lists of publications, otherwise known as academic doping, is a phenomenon within an academic world in which there is competition for the grants. At Health's PhD Day 2015, younger researchers will discuss the problem.

2015.01.20 | Henriette Stevnhøj

PhD Day 2015 will take place in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres 23 January. The theme is academic doping.

International studies show that the number of authors per research article has risen dramatically over the past 30 years. Perhaps the explanation for this is to be found in the competition to attract the largest grants, where writing a good application is not always enough. The applicant is also assessed on the basis of the volume and weight of articles on their CV. Even though guidelines and international declarations are meant to raise awareness of unmerited authorship, a grey area remains.

"When have you contributed to the substance of the research article, and when have you just had peripheral knowledge?" asks Lise Wogensen, vice-dean for talent development and head of the Graduate School of Health as she explains the background for the theme of this year’s PhD Day.

"A PhD student can come into a research environment where there is a culture of adding each other to articles as co-author. This is an arrangement that is beneficial for all parties. But you are teetering on the edge of dishonesty if you have not made substantial contributions to all of the steps in the research process," says Lise Wogensen.

She has headed Health's work to draw up guidelines for responsible conduct of research. Later in the spring a code of conduct will be presented as a supplement to the Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity from 2014.

Free the debate

Lise Wogensen does not have the impression that inflated CVs are a widespread phenomenon in Health’s research environments. For her it is mostly a case of starting a much-needed debate, one which can just as well begin with the youngest researchers, the PhD students. But it is also essential to involve the supervisors in these discussions, as they are role models for the PhD students.

"I would like an open-minded environment, where it is permitted to talk openly about authorship. It is important that we help one another and contribute to one another's research. But because the competition is so fierce, we risk a trading in authorships that is not consistent with research integrity," says Lise Wogensen.

She hopes that there will be a movement toward quality and substance in articles, rather than the number of articles.

"It is clear that the youngest researchers are not the people who need to act as the driving force in such a development. However, they have an important task in being able to ask questions and shake-up a prevailing culture," says Lise Wogensen.

Clear ideals

According to Kasper Pryds, the younger researchers are happy to take their share of responsibility for ensuring that the debate is set free. He is a PhD student and chairman of the PhD Association at Health, who are one of the co-organisers of the PhD Day.

"With this year’s theme we want to emphasise that we take our education and upbringing as researchers seriously and that we also take responsibility for developing and maintaining a research culture based on strong and clear ideals. The best way of doing this is to dare have an open discussion," says Kasper Pryds.

He believes that academic doping and scientific dishonesty are closely related topics which all younger researchers should reflect on during the course of their PhD programme.

"Every researcher, young or old, should reflect on how we can halt the increase of academic doping. It is a problem that you will come to face as a researcher," says Kasper Pryds.

The PhD Day 2015 consists of poster sessions, presentations and an awards ceremony, along with a panel discussion with participants from the field of health sciences, which will be held around midday. The participants have been selected based on an ability to contribute to the topic with inspiration, provocation and learning.

• Kirsten Ohm Kyvik, professor, MPM, department head of the Institute of Regional Health Research at the University of Southern Denmark.
• Jørgen Frøkier, professor, vice-chair of the Danish Council for Independent Research Medical Sciences.
• Ask Vest Christiansen, associate professor with focus on doping in sport at the Department of Public Health, Sport Science, Aarhus University.
• Eskild Petersen, clinical associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The programme for the day. You can also follow the debate and comments and contribute on Twitter via: #auphd15 and the PhD Associations Twitter-profile: @phdassoc_health. 

Under the paneldebate and the key note speaker presentation it will be possible to ask questions and comment via the PhD Associations Facebook profile: Phd Association Health. Facebook will be a supplement to the open debate in the lecture theatre.

Further information

Vice-Dean Lise Wogensen
Aarhus University, Health
Direct tel.: +45 2548 8522 
lwb@ki.au.dk

PhD student og chairman of the PhD Association Kasper Pryds
Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University
Direct tel: +45 2613 7917
kpryds@clin.au.dk