Monday, June 22, 2026

What drives academic misconduct by professors and research students?

University of Technology Sydney

Ensuring the research that we all rely on – whether for our health, environment or economy – is trustworthy is important for universities, governments and business. Unfortunately, academic misconduct is a growing concern where researchers break the rules, such as making up results or copying others’ work making their research untrustworthy.

An international study published in Higher Education Research & Development sheds light on the key factors that drive research misconduct in universities, offering crucial insights for strengthening research integrity worldwide.

The study has found that academics believe that research misconduct is significantly more likely when penalties for misconduct are weaker, the likelihood of investigation is low, and the perceived harm caused by misconduct is minimal.

At the lower end of the scale they believe misconduct is least influenced by how complex the research is, whether experts are involved, and whether researchers are exposed to formal training and policies.

Lead author, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business Professor Paul Burke said this made preventing fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other questionable research practices primarily about addressing academic incentives, deterrence, and perceived consequences.

The research was conducted by business and ethics researchers from UTS and the University of New South Wales and surveyed the views of more than 900 researchers across Australia, the United States and Europe.

The study applied a discrete choice experiment to investigate research integrity, a method more commonly used in economics. Rather than asking researchers to rate factors individually, participants made trade-offs, revealing how they prioritise different drivers in real-world scenarios.

“This approach gives us a much clearer picture of what actually matters in relative terms,” Professor Burke said. “It moves beyond simple checklists to understanding which different pressures matter more.

“The findings highlight that researchers respond to the same kinds of incentives and disincentives we see in other decision-making contexts. When the risks are low and the consequences limited, misconduct becomes more likely. Education on misconduct matters but deterrence matters more.”

Importantly, the study identifies three distinct groups of researchers, each with different perspectives on what drives misconduct.

For experienced researchers, focus on penalties and the likelihood of investigation matters more. Early-career researchers are most influenced by observing the poor behaviours of senior academics. Mid-career STEM researchers emphasise peer pressure, mentoring, and perceived impact.

“These differences matter,” Professor Burke said. “They show that a one-size-fits-all approach to research integrity is unlikely to be effective.”

The findings point to several practical actions universities can take to promote research integrity including increasing transparency around misconduct investigations and outcomes; strengthening and consistently applying penalties for misconduct; creating safe, accessible pathways for reporting concerns; ensuring senior academics model ethical research behaviour; and tailoring integrity initiatives to different career stages and disciplines.

The study also highlights broader cultural challenges in academia. While most researchers reported low personal engagement with misconduct, around one-third indicated they had experienced pressure to engage in questionable practices, and only just over half believed research integrity is strongly prioritised in their field.

With public trust in science under increasing scrutiny, the study underscores the importance of strengthening research integrity systems globally.

“Universities, funders and journals all have a role to play,” Professor Burke said. “Promoting integrity isn’t just about rules – it’s about creating environments where ethical research is the norm and supported at every level.”

Journal

Higher Education Research & Development

DOI

10.1080/07294360.2026.2627872

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

What drives academic research misconduct? The viewpoint of researchers

UT San Antonio's Center for Military Affiliated Students receives enhanced technology support through T-Mobile partnership

New investment will expand student services and long-term infrastructure for the Center for Military Affiliated Students

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

University of Texas at San Antonio

The University of Texas at San Antonio has announced a new collaboration with T-Mobile to bring advanced 5G infrastructure to the university’s Center for Military Affiliated Students (CMAS), strengthening digital services and expanding support. The enhanced infrastructure will support high-capacity connectivity for up to 1,000 students and 50 staff members and will help power key CMAS functions, including academic advising, virtual mental health services, hybrid programming and career development.

Military-affiliated students often balance their education with other demands including service commitments, career transitions and family responsibilities. Expanding digital infrastructure at CMAS will help UT San Antonio deliver more flexible, responsive and secure support for a student population that is central to the university’s mission and community impact.

Through a five-year agreement, T-Mobile will deploy a hybrid network from the Advanced Network Solution portfolio at the CMAS facility, providing dedicated, licensed-spectrum connectivity, secure backhaul and Secure Access Service Edge architecture to support critical student services. The investment, valued at approximately $1.69 million, includes equipment, software and support services, along with subsidized connectivity, cybersecurity and managed network services.

“UT San Antonio is committed to expanding opportunity, removing barriers and providing all students with the support they need to succeed,” said UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy. “This collaboration not only allows us to achieve critical accessibility for our military population by strengthening the infrastructure but also creates new possibilities for connection, care, and student success. By addressing the unique challenges often faced by military-affiliated students and their families, we can ensure they have the support and resources necessary to thrive in both their academic and personal journeys.”

San Antonio is recognized nationally as Military City USA. UT San Antonio and its CMAS serve the largest military population of any university within The University of Texas System with over 6,300 enrolled service members, veterans, and military-affiliated family members and dependents. Beyond academic services, the CMAS provides wraparound support through dedicated benefits certification, tailored advising, mental health partnerships, priority registration, peer support initiatives, and innovative programming that sets the standard for veteran service in higher education. As a result, UT San Antonio has been consistently recognized as a “Best for Vets” university by the Military Times.

In addition to the multitude of services offered through the CMAS, the university’s academic health center, UT Health San Antonio, provides a comprehensive network of health, wellness and support services for veterans, active-duty service members, military-affiliated students and the broader military community. Together, these resources reflect UT San Antonio’s commitment to addressing the unique educational, health and well-being needs of those who have served, are currently serving, and the families who support them.

“Our students often carry a great deal as they work toward their degrees, and our role is to make sure they have the support and flexibility they need to thrive,” said Michael Logan, senior director for veteran and military affairs at UT San Antonio. “This technology will strengthen how we deliver advising, connect students to services and create more consistent access to programs that support their academic progress, well-being and career development.”

The relationship with T-Mobile marks an important early milestone in a broader, multiyear effort to strengthen the infrastructure and services that support military affiliated students at UT San Antonio.

“Connectivity plays a critical role in expanding access to opportunity,” said David Bezzant, vice president at the T-Mobile Business Group. “Through this collaboration with UT San Antonio, T-Mobile’s hybrid network is helping build a stronger digital foundation for the Center for Military Affiliated Students so veterans, service members and military families can stay connected to the support systems that help them succeed.”

By securing enterprise-grade connectivity and long-term operational support through this agreement, UT San Antonio is expanding its ability to serve military-affiliated students with the tools, resources and flexibility needed to support their academic and personal success.

Understanding the role of the military in politics: doctoral thesis introduces an analytical framework and shows how the Russian Armed Forces have served Putin’s foreign policy

Abo Akademi University

National and international security alike depend on the military being both willing and able to comply with the political preferences of a civilian-led government – but how can we accurately describe the role of the military in politics? Drawing on a new theory of military compliance and a method for structured, theory-grounded analysis, a doctoral thesis at Åbo Akademi University in Finland presents a new framework for describing the role of the military in foreign policy. The thesis applies the framework to Putin’s military campaigns in Georgia and Syria.

Fredrik Westerlund seeks to contribute to research by describing, in a reliable and meaningful way, how the military relates to civilian authority. In his doctoral thesis in political science, he aims to establish a theory-grounded approach to describing military compliance with political preferences.

He does this by presenting a framework which proposes that the role of the armed forces in policy implementation can be characterised through four ideal-type roles: Servant, Shaper, Sinker and Spoiler.

“The roles are based on the degree of willingness and ability to comply with political preferences. A Servant is both willing and able to serve the political leadership, whereas a Shaper has considerable capacity to influence policy but uses this position to advance the military’s own interests. A Sinker is willing but has limited ability to adhere to the preferences of the political leadership. Finally, a Spoiler is neither willing nor able to follow political preferences,” says Westerlund.

Russia as a case study

To assess the analytical framework, Westerlund applies it to two contemporary Russian military operations: those in Georgia in 2008 and Syria in 2015–2020. These examples provide theoretically significant contexts, as the cases represent the full range of variation in military campaigns conducted beyond Russia’s borders during the Putin era.

“To date, few studies have examined civilian control over the use of Russian military force abroad since Vladimir Putin came to power. At the same time, the Kremlin has repeatedly used armed force in its foreign policy, with significant consequences for international security. Military operations are difficult cases, and civil-military relations in contemporary Russia pose a challenge to the Western-dominated theory. My thesis offers concepts and tools for understanding why the military complies, how civilian and military actors interact in Russia, and how the country thinks and acts in war.”

The framework is robust

The results show that Western theories of civil-military relations are useful for studying military operations during the Putin era. The analytical framework presented in Westerlund’s thesis can serve as a template for other research designs examining the role of the military in policymaking.

“The findings provide new empirical knowledge about contemporary Russian civil-military relations, including the description of the armed forces as a Servant during Russia’s military campaign in Georgia. They also support the hypothesis that the military, on behalf of Russia’s political leadership, repeatedly and flagrantly violates national and international law in order to fulfil political preferences.”

The thesis makes a significant theoretical contribution by proposing and testing an innovative approach to studying military compliance in interventions abroad, both in Russia and elsewhere, and deepens our understanding of an important aspect of civil military relations in contemporary Russia. At the same time, it challenges an established view of military compliance during the 2008 war in Georgia and offers new insights into how repeated Russian violations of international law in military operations abroad can be explained.

Fredrik Westerlund will defend his doctoral thesis on 23 June 2026 at Academill in Vaasa, Finland. The thesis ”Sinker, Shaper, Spoiler, or Servant? A framework for analysing the role of Armed Forces in policy making, exemplified by Putin-era military campaigns abroad” can be read here.

Further information:
Fredrik Westerlund, doctoral candidate at Åbo Akademi University
Email: fredrikwesterlund72@gmail.com

Regulating the hydrogen transfer pathways for electrochemical nitrate-to-ammonia at industrial current density

Science China Press

Ce-Cu2O electrocatalyst enables pathway-regulated nitrate-to-ammonia conversion by balancing E-R and L-H hydrogenation mechanisms. — image:
The introduced Cu-O-Ce sites allow an additional *H-dependent hydrogenation pathway, suppressing HER and promoting highly selective NH3 electrosynthesis.
view more
Credit: ©Science Bulletin

The motivation

Ammonia is an essential chemical feedstock and a promising carbon-free energy carrier. However, the Haber-Bosch process remains highly energy-intensive and contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions. Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) offers a sustainable alternative by converting nitrate pollutants in wastewater into ammonia under ambient conditions using renewable electricity.

Despite rapid progress, achieving high NH3 selectivity at industrial current densities remains extremely challenging. One of the major bottlenecks originates from the imbalance in active hydrogen (*H) utilization. During NO3RR, surface *H species are required for stepwise hydrogenation of nitrogen intermediates, yet excessive *H tends to participate in HER instead of nitrate reduction.

Moreover, pristine Cu2O catalysts exhibit a hydrogenation mechanism: the early-stage nitrate reduction follows a Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L-H) pathway involving surface *H, while the later NO-to-NH3 conversion mainly proceeds through an Eley–Rideal (E-R) pathway independent of adsorbed hydrogen. This may lead to residual *H accumulation and accelerated HER under high current densities.

We therefore asked: can we redesign the catalytic active sites to continuously channel active hydrogen toward nitrogen intermediate hydrogenation rather than hydrogen evolution?

The origin of the idea

Copper-based catalysts are widely regarded as one of the most promising systems for NO3RR because of their favorable nitrate adsorption and moderate binding strength toward nitrogen intermediates. However, their hydrogenation pathways are difficult to regulate.

We hypothesized that introducing rare-earth elements with strong electronic modulation capability could alter the adsorption configuration and hydrogenation behavior of key intermediates. Cerium, with its dynamic Ce redox properties and strong oxygen affinity, emerged as an ideal candidate.

This concept led us to design a Ce-doped Cu2O catalyst, where atomically dispersed Ce induces the formation of Cu-O-Ce active centers alongside the intrinsic Cu0-Cu+ sites. We envisioned that these new interfacial sites could activate an additional *H-mediated hydrogenation route and improve active hydrogen utilization efficiency.

Our approach: dual active-site for hydrogen pathway regulation

We developed a Ce-Cu2O catalyst containing synergistic Cu0-Cu+ and Cu-O-Ce dual active centers. Structural characterization confirmed that Ce atoms were uniformly incorporated into the Cu2O lattice without forming CeO2 aggregates.

The newly formed Cu-O-Ce sites introduced an additional hydrogenation pathway involving the *NHOH intermediate, fundamentally changing the reaction mechanism of NO3RR. Instead of relying solely on the traditional E-R hydrogenation route, Ce-Cu2O enabled cooperative L-H and E-R hydrogenation processes throughout nitrate reduction.

This design effectively redirected excessive surface *H toward nitrogen intermediate hydrogenation, thereby suppressing HER and enhancing ammonia selectivity under high current densities.

What we did and key experiments

To validate the mechanism and catalytic origin, we combined advanced operando spectroscopy with theoretical calculations:

In situ DEMS experiments tracked reaction intermediates under NO3−, NO2−, and NO feeding conditions, revealing the emergence of the *NHOH intermediate exclusively on Ce-Cu2O.
The t-BuOH trapping experiments confirmed that the newly introduced hydrogenation pathway strongly depended on surface active hydrogen, indicating the dominant L-H mechanism.
Operando Raman and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy monitored the dynamic evolution of nitrogen-containing intermediates during electrocatalysis.
In situ XAFS demonstrated that the Cu0-Cu+ ratio remained stable during long-term electrolysis, indicating that the dynamic Ce redox couple stabilized catalytically active sites under reducing conditions.
DFT calculations showed that Cu-O-Ce sites significantly lowered the energy barriers for key hydrogenation steps, including *NO3 → *NO2OH and *NO → *NOH. Electronic structure analysis further revealed the stronger orbital coupling between Ce 4f states and adsorbed *NO intermediates.
Electrochemical measurements demonstrated excellent catalytic activity, achieving a Faradaic efficiency of 96.48% and long-term stability at industrial current densities up to 1 A cm−2.

Why it matters

This work introduces a new catalyst design principle based on active hydrogen pathway regulation. Rather than simply increasing catalytic activity, we demonstrate that controlling how surface hydrogen participates in elementary reaction steps is crucial for achieving efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion.

The discovery of cooperative L-H and E-R hydrogenation pathways provides new mechanistic insight into multi-step electrocatalytic hydrogenation reactions. More importantly, the Cu-O-Ce dual-site strategy offers a general framework for regulating hydrogen utilization in other electrochemical systems, including CO2 reduction, nitrite reduction, and biomass upgrading.

From a sustainability perspective, this work advances the development of decentralized ammonia production technologies powered by renewable electricity while simultaneously enabling nitrate wastewater remediation.

Outlook

We envision several promising future directions:

Expanding rare-earth modulation strategies to other transition-metal catalysts for tuning hydrogenation pathways.
Designing adaptive catalytic interfaces capable of dynamically regulating active hydrogen coverage under industrial operating conditions.
Integrating NO3RR systems into scalable flow-cell electrolyzers for practical wastewater-to-ammonia conversion.

We hope this work encourages the community to view active hydrogen not merely as a reaction intermediate, but as a controllable reaction resource whose transfer pathway can fundamentally determine catalytic efficiency and selectivity.

Journal

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2026.05.053

Method of Research

Experimental study

Beautiful scenery, rich biodiversity: New springtail species discovered in China

Pensoft Publishers

Habitus of Lepidodens maculata — image:
The new species of Lepidodens: L. maculata
view more
Credit: Dr. Yitong Ma

There is a Chinese saying that east or west, Guilin scenery is the best. Guilin and Chongqing, located in the western part of China, are famous for their many mountains and rivers. They also harbor unique flora and fauna, such as the scaly-sided merganser, a globally endangered species restricted to eastern Asia.

In 2023 and 2024, Dr. Yitong Ma from Nantong University, China, collected springtail specimens from the Huaping Nature Reserve in Guilin and the Yintiaoling Nature Reserve in Chongqing. “Springtails are the most common arthropods living in the soil - you can find them in your yard, in the flowerpot, or on the lawn,” he says. “Although they are very small, usually 2-3 mm in length, their density can be amazing. As decomposers, they can break down the organic matter and promote material cycling, so they play an important key role in soil ecosystems.”

After checking the specimens from the two reserves under microscopes, Dr. Ma and his colleague from Nantong University, Xiaowei Qian, found rich biodiversity and about 80 different species of springtails. In a study published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, they described five new scaled species belonging to three genera of the springtail family Entomobryidae.

The genus Lepidodens contains five species, all found in China. The researchers find one new species, which is also the first species of the genus from the western part of China.

They also report the first sighting in China of the genus Lepidosira, which thrives best in Oceania. In Huaping Nature Reserve and Yintiaoling Nature Reserve, they found three new species of the genus.

Among the fifty species of the genus Willowsia in the world, about 30 species have been reported from China. However, the authors concluded this genus is not well represented in the two reserves, and only found one new species in Chongqing.

In the future, the researchers will further study those specimens collected from the two reserves. “Given the subtropical monsoon climate, mountainous topography and little human disturbance of the reserves, it is likely that more new species will be found” they say.

Original source:

Qian X-W, Ma Y-T (2026) Five new species of Entomobryinae (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from China. ZooKeys 1275: 81-115. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1275.158254

The new Willowsia species：W. zhangi

One of the new Lepidosira species：L. montis

Habitus of Lepidosira cheni

Habitus of Lepidosira guilinensis

Credit

Dr Yitong Ma

Journal

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1275.158254

Article Title

Five new species of Entomobryinae (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from China