Safeguarding engagement with under-represented groups
Ethical considerations for mitigating fraudulent participation in health research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19480228 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jenny Duong (0009-0006-3333-9045, University of Calgary), Iqra Rahamatullah (University of Calgary), Tristan Bilash (0009-0007-3798-2254, University of Calgary), Caitlin Forbes (University of Calgary), Sharon Hou (0000-0001-5828-6820, Simon Fraser University), Sharon H J Hou, Brianna Henry (0000-0002-6872-7615, University of Calgary), Sheila N Garland (0000-0002-6119-318X, Memorial University of Newfoundland), Jacqueline L Bender (0000-0003-1501-335X, University of Toronto), Perri R Tutelman (0000-0001-6013-7402, University of Calgary), Fiona Schulte (0000-0002-3076-9676), Fiona S M Schulte (University of Calgary, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research Ethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1747-0161 • E-ISSN: 2047-6094 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/17470161261434262 |
| OpenAlex | W7162202164 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
Members of under-represented, marginalized groups experience disparate health outcomes, warranting research that improves equitable engagement in research and subsequent care practices. However, in our online study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we encountered systematic signs of fraudulent behavior corroborated by recent reports from other research teams, with differing approaches to mitigating fraudulent participation. We highlight our experiences during recruitment and pilot focus groups, along with our actions for mitigating further recruitment of fraudulent participants. Then, we synthesize our learnings with other scholars’ experiences to provide recommendations for the study development, recruitment, screening, and data collection stages of research. We also offer a critical analysis of current recommendations and their implications for reinforcing barriers to engaging under-represented groups in research. The recommendations provided emphasize the importance of preventing fraudulent participation in quantitative and qualitative research through adopting multiple strategies, while balancing considerations for meaningfully engagement with under-represented groups to ensure equitable and inclusive research
Data collection · Focus group · Health care · Qualitative property · Qualitative research · Research ethics · Rules of engagement · Safeguarding · Ethics in Clinical Research · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Social Media in Health Education
Intergroup relations and health disparities
Threats of Bots and Other Bad Actors to Data Quality Following Research Participant Recruitment Through Social Media
The Use of Social Media in Recruitment for Medical Research Studies
Detecting, Preventing, and Responding to “Fraudsters” in Internet Research
Pragmatic and ethical challenges in navigating inauthentic participation in remote qualitative research
Lie for a Dime
The Impact of Covid-19 on Global Inequality and Poverty
‘Imposter participants’ in online qualitative research, a new and increasing threat to data integrity
The Covid-19 Pandemics
Disrupted identities, invisibility and precarious support
Ask Me No Secrets, I'll Tell You No Lies
Confronting inequality in the “new normal”
Persons With Disabilities as an Unrecognized Health Disparity Population
An Implausible Virtual Interview
Fraudulent Participation in Online Qualitative Studies
Suspicious and fraudulent online survey participation
Beyond the challenge to research integrity
The Conscientious Responders Scale
Dealing With Scam in Online Qualitative Research
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |