‘Scientific Integrity’ Group Suddenly Disappears from Facebook

Scientific Integrity Group as of 3-Year-2023 – Screenshot

The sudden disappearance of the Scientific Integrity group has drawn great attention in the Vietnamese scientific community.

Scientific Integrity Group has been in operation for over four years.

According to the management of the Scientific Integrity group, on the evening of February 23 (Vietnam time), the Scientific Integrity group suddenly disappeared without any notice or warning from Facebook through any channel.

Currently, when I access the group address, all I see is Facebook’s default message: “You can’t view this content at this time.”

Dr. Duong Tu, a researcher at Purdue University in the US who founded the Scientific Integrity group, said Facebook may have hidden or deleted the group due to reports of large-scale attacks against it.

“The government has contacted Facebook through various channels to determine the cause of this incident and find a way to restore the group. We tried to find a way to appeal Facebook’s decision, but couldn’t find one.

According to information from the Facebook Help Center, some violations may not be considered eligible for appeal.

Facebook’s sudden decision is baffling. “This is because the group has been operating for over four years and has received almost no warnings of violations,” Mr Tu said.

The Scientific Integrity Group’s board of directors said the group was established on 1 September 2020 as a public forum to discuss various topics related to scientific integrity with the goal of “contributing to building a cleaner and more transparent scientific community in Vietnam.”

Since its founding, the size of the group has grown rapidly from less than 5.000 members in the first year to nearly 100.000 members before the group ceases to exist.

Over the past four years, the Scientific Integrity group has become an important and influential forum on scientific integrity, attracting the participation of researchers, scholars, students, and leaders from many departments at home and abroad.

The Scientific Integrity Group Forum discusses many topics related to scientific integrity. – Screenshot

“Group admins always verify information before approving articles”

In response to the comment that “Science Integrity Group has recently become a place to criticize, insult and discredit scientists,” Dr. Duong Tu explained that Science Integrity Group is a discussion forum with many topics related to scientific integrity. Most focus on sharing information, disseminating knowledge, and raising awareness of serious and honest scientific practice.

Members are regularly introduced to free, high-quality courses on scientific article writing. How to identify predatory and fake magazines How to handle potentially dangerous situations to prevent integrity violations…

Discussions involving specific researchers only represent a small portion of the total number of papers and are not a major focus of the Scientific Integrity group.

Additionally, discussions in this direction are based on studies and results publicly announced by researchers and do not target individuals or private issues.

“In our view, once a scientist publishes research results, everyone has the right to discuss and question those published results. Civilized discussion and healthy questioning are great opportunities for serious scientists to share and promote work of interest, as well as consult with the community to improve the quality of research.

We respect the assessment of some who think that the Scientific Integrity group is “a place to denounce and discredit scientists.” However, such an assessment would be more valuable if the person giving the opinion were a serious scientist with no conflicts of interest with the group.

“It is not surprising that some people, who have been questioned and criticized for integrity violations, are holding a grudge and are attempting to accuse, stigmatize and slander the group,” said an official from the group’s board of directors.

“Opportunity to evaluate and review group work”

Additionally, according to the group’s management, all discussions in the Scientific Integrity Group are based on publicly available information. Group admins always verify information before approving a post.

With thousands of articles and hundreds of thousands of comments, the Scientific Integrity group is a large repository of information and data with a wealth of views and perspectives.

All the knowledge that our nearly 100,000,000 members have contributed, built, and accumulated over a long period of time is at risk of being completely lost.

“The Board sees this as a valuable opportunity to evaluate and reflect on the Group’s activities over the past four years. We discussed and agreed on comprehensive, fundamental changes to our organization, model and operating methods to make the Scientific Integrity group more sustainable, professional, effective and rewarding.

“Whether we are able to restore previous groups or establish new forums, we are always steadfast in our goal to contribute to building a cleaner and more transparent scientific community in Vietnam,” added Mr. Tu.

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