22ND LUCRID WEBINAR HOSTS RESEARCH ETHICS DAY
- Post by: lmu
- August 2, 2022
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Young scholars have been advised to adhere to outlined research ethics while publishing towards avoiding falling into predatory and unethical practices. The call was made by seasoned scholars in Africa during the 22nd LUCRID Webinar of Landmark University to host the 2022 Research Ethics Day on Wednesday 22nd June 2022. Organised by the University’s Research Ethics Committee in collaboration with SDG 4, the 22nd LUCRID Webinar attracted speakers from Nigeria, South Africa and Nairobi with over one hundred participants within and outside Landmark University.
In her remarks, the acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Charity Aremu stated that the webinar is a way of engaging our members of faculty to help situate the research quest in line with the University’s vision expectations. “Our research quest is always very intentional, hence the reason we are having this research ethics day organized through the platform of the webinar series of Landmark University. We hope that Landmark Faculty and Staff would benefit from the webinar today in filling an existing gap,” she noted. She, thereafter, admonished the participants to maximise the opportunity to garner from speakers. Professor Charity Aremu identified confidentiality, information, consent, openness, novelty, objectivity and respect for intellectual property as some of the key component factors of research ethics.
In his presentation on “The past, the present, and the future response to research ethics protocol in Africa”, Professor Walter Jaoko of the Department of Medical Microbiology University of Nairobi asserted that past research ethics in Africa have documented cases of historical injustices, present research ethics in Africa in most countries can adequately protect research participants while the future of research ethics in Africa will require efficient research ethics committee and well-trained research ethics committee members to address emerging issues in ethics such as data protection of participants and changing landscape in informed consent among others.
Presenting the second paper on “Predatory and Unethical Publishing Practices”, Mrs Susan Veldsman stated that the enormous pressure to publish and publish fast preferably in the very best journals influences both authors and editors. According to her, twenty-four percent of respondents have either published in a predatory journal, participated in a predatory conference or don’t know if they have. Mrs Veldsman warned that to avert misinformation in public policy, infiltrate and undermine the research enterprise and widen the research gap between high-income and low-income countries, predatory and unethical publishing practices must be addressed. She advised raising awareness of the dangers of predatory journals and conferences amongst their communities through training and mentoring services, championing and setting standards for research integrity and best practices and recognizing peer-review as a highly valued responsibility and many more as some of the ways to reduce predatory journals and sharp practices.
Professor Sola Gbotosho, a renowned Scholar in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan spoke on “Tips to Overcome Research Ethical Pitfalls under Publish-or-Perish Pressure”. She identified fear and anxiety coupled with limited time, skill deficiency, inexperience and fear of manuscript rejection as some detrimental consequences of the publish-or-perish dilemma common among young academics. Professor Gbotosho then urged young scholars to use reproducible and transparent procedures for research, keep accurate notes when conducting the research and develop a personal conviction that research is conducted to improve life.
The 22nd LUCRID webinar which is also the Landmark University research ethics day featured physical and online participants most of whom were young faculty and students.
