Meet our research integrity experts: Shanshan Qu

As a Publishing Ethics Expert in Elsevier’s Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics Center of Expertise, Shanshan “Shan” Qu investigates and addresses allegations of ethical wrongdoing, including plagiarism, data fabrication, conflicts of interest and systematic manipulation. The scope of her investigations ranges from misconduct in a single article to more complex cases spanning multiple journals.

“Overall, my role is to ensure that the content we publish adheres to ethical standards and guidelines,” said Shan, who is based in Elsevier’s Beijing office. She takes a multifaceted approach.

When a complaint, query or concern is raised from a publisher, editor or reader, a case is opened and assigned to Shan and her colleagues. That triggers the start of a careful and detailed investigation.

“This investigative process is intellectually stimulating — like detective work,” she said.

“It requires a meticulous analysis of data, careful scrutiny of the peer review process, precise identification of unethical patterns and fair resolution of issues in accordance with Elsevier policies and COPE guidelines,” Shan explained.

It’s laborious and painstaking work, but the results are worth it: “By addressing these issues,” Shan said, “I help to uphold the integrity of scientific research and protect the integrity of the published record.”

Ethics education

Shan also conducts workshops and training sessions for authors, reviewers and editors and advises on the development of ethical policies and guidelines. She considers this part of her work essential to protecting research integrity.

“I strongly believe that educating researchers is one of the crucial parts of my work,” she said. “Even if we identify and resolve ethical issues before an article is accepted or after it’s published, the negative impact of such misconduct has already occurred.”

Shan works closely with journal publishers, editors, reviewers and authors. “My work requires a high level of collaboration,” she said. “I need to stay aligned with publishers and editors to understand the status of the investigation and work out action plans. Also, collaboration among publishers helps us identify trends and prevent ethical misconduct that might span across multiple journals.”

Technology and innovation

Shan’s team uses advanced, tailor-made tools developed by an Elsevier Senior Ethics Expert in conjunction with a team of data scientists and technologists at Elsevier.

As Shan explained, one of their technologies produces multi-dimensional reports that identify signals of potential ethical misconduct within papers, with the editorial and peer review process and, in more complex cases, by a network of individuals. Another dashboard provides a multi-dimensional analysis of citation patterns that helps identify networks of individuals working together to manipulate the system.

And more innovation is on the way: the Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team has launched a pre-acceptance integrity screening tool. “This initiative will provide invaluable support to editors, reviewers and authors by helping to identify any potential ethical issues before an article is accepted for publication.”

Cracking a case of identity fraud and peer review manipulation

Shan has been using several of these tools to investigate a complex and wide-ranging case with elements of identity fraud and peer review manipulation. “My first-phase investigation revealed that he used his influence, resources and technical skills to create and fabricate various fake identities and email accounts,” she said. “The fake identities played significant roles in articles authored by him or his network, serving as co-authors or reviewers.”

Once the deception was confirmed, her team acted swiftly. “For the identities that were confirmed to be fake, we flagged and blocked the accounts in our systems. For the related articles, we corrected the scientific record by publishing expressions of concern or retracting them.”

Star skills

Shan joined Elsevier in 2011 as a Publishing Content Specialist managing special issues. She served in various other publishing roles before taking her current position two years ago.

Her publishing experience has helped her immensely, she said:

I think my role really needs the experience or knowledge of publishing because I need to be familiar with the whole process — how the papers are submitted, what the process of peer review looks like, what the production process is like and what happens when the paper is published online. And I also need to understand the relevant policies about publishing ethics and what researchers do. For example, if the experiment requires a human subject, the researchers of course need to gain the ethics approval from their institution.

Another skill is logical thinking. “During the investigation, I need to use logical thinking to try to figure out why the author took the risk to carry out the misconduct,” she explained. “Finding out the reason behind it helps me find the right direction for the investigation.”

Understanding the motives behind ethical misconduct

The investigations have helped her understand the deeper motivations behind deception. “This issue is primarily driven by the intense pressure to publish in a highly competitive environment,” she said. “Such pressures can tempt researchers to conduct their work unethically in order to achieve career success.”

Other factors, such as a poor integrity culture, a hostile working environment, inadequate mentoring and dysfunctional award systems, may also be linked to ethical misbehavior, she added.

Advice for researchers

Authors should ensure that the work they submit is original, appropriately cited and free of conflicts of interest, she advised. In addition, authors need to make sure their work conforms to the journal’s ethical policies and that they have read and accepted the journal’s position on ethical issues. Researchers should take the initiative to address any concerns regarding manuscript preparation, conflicts of interest, authorship and data reuse with journal editors before submitting.

“If researchers and authors have a clear and strong commitment to maintaining research integrity and publishing ethics, many issues can be prevented,” she said. “Of course, this is a long-term process that requires time and influence. Therefore, I think my role in education is extremely important.”