Scientific Integrity in Qualitative Research (SCIQUAL) Seminar 2017. Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; September 13-14, 2017: Conference Report

Abstract

The Scientific Integrity in Qualitative Research (SCIQUAL) 2017 seminar focused on the basic rules of good scientific practice and researchers' commitment to (or lack thereof in) adhering to these rules. Especially in the case of qualitative research, where there is a lack of standardized measures to ensure the quality of the methods, scientific integrity is a fuzzy concept and a big concern. To add on to this, increasing demands to publish or perish compel researchers to produce strong, concrete, evidence-based contributions at an alarmingly fast pace. Other factors like financial constraints, competition, etc. might also tempt scientists to achieve success swiftly through the use of unfair research practices. This is an alarming trait since good science is supposed to be credible, authentic, trustworthy, and ethical. SCIQUAL 2017 brought our attention to a few topics (e.g. reflexivity, ethical climate, deviant cases) which comes under the umbrella term of scientific integrity.