Virtue ethics-based research integrity training intervention to change medical students' attitudes and perceptions of organizational ethical climate: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Universities are increasingly offering training in research integrity (RI) to enhance research quality and foster RI. Despite the importance of integrating scientific virtues into such training, there is a lack of assessment of virtue ethics-based RI training.

Methods: This was a randomised controlled study assessing the impact of a virtue-based training for RI, performed at the University of Split School of Medicine in 2020-2021. We included first-year medical students who were randomly assigned to a control group, receiving a RI lecture, or the interventional group, receiving the same lecture plus a virtue-based training for RI. We measured changes in Ethical Climate Questionnaire (ECQ) scores as the primary outcome and the difference between perceived and desired ECQ scores as the secondary outcome.

Results: Of 181 participants, 105 (55 control, 50 experimental) completed the study. The virtue-based training did not significantly change ethical climate perceptions between groups. Dominant climates were Company rules and procedures and Laws and professional codes. Overall, the preferred climates emphasized Team interest and Social responsibility.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the value of using ECQ to assess RI training and highlights the need for further research into the long-term effects of virtue-based training.