This study investigated the relationship between publication pressure and questionable research practices (QRPs), focusing on moral disengagement (MD) and lab research ethics climate. A survey of 269 Chinese PhD students revealed that (1) publication pressure is significantly positively correlated with QRPs and MD; (2) MD mediates the relationship between publication pressure and QRPs; lab research ethics climate moderates both (3) the relationship between publication pressure and MD, and (4) the mediating role of MD between publication pressure and QRPs. Responsible conduct (...) of research education should emphasize potential ethical conflicts in publication, the impact of cognitive patterns of MD, and lab-based interventions for QRPs. (shrink)

Publication pressure has been touted to promote questionable research practices (QRP) and scientific or research misconduct (RM). However, logically attractively as it is, there is no unequivocal evidence for this notion, and empirical studies have produced conflicting results. Other than difficulties in obtaining unbiased empirical data, a direct causal relationship between perceived publication pressure (PPP) and QRP/RM is inherently difficult to establish, because the former is a complex biopsychosocial construct that is variedly influenced by multiple personal and environmental factors. To (...) effectively address QRP/RM by tackling the sources of PPP would also be difficult because of the competitive nature of the reward and merit system of contemporary science. We might do better with efforts in enhancing knowledge in research ethics and integrity among the practitioners, as well as institutional infrastructures and mechanisms to fairly and efficiently adjudicate cases of QRP/RM. (shrink)