r/research

Hi folks, I was looking for articles about epigenetic regulations in plants and encountered this marvelous masterpiece. How the heck did anyone not notice that this is an AI slop figure. I mean, I understand that MDPI is not considered a serious publisher but this is pure bullcrap. Also, the journal seems to allow AI generation only upon disclosure, that I can't see here

IMPORTANT EDIT: AI gen is not even the main concern anymore:

I compared this paper with Kaya, Uğurlar, and Adamakis, Epigenetic Modifications of Hormonal Signaling Pathways in Plant Drought Response and Tolerance for Sustainable Food Security (International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2024, 25, 8229; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25158229) and found a repeated reproduction of entire sequences of bibliographic references. References [1–5] of the 2024 review reappear identically at [1–5] in the 2026 article. References [6–14] reappear in the same order at [7–15], following the insertion of an additional self-citation. Seven consecutive references [28–34] correspond to [34–40], while references [37–41] reappear consecutively at [58–62]. All seventeen references [66–82] from the earlier review are also present in the 2026 article, redistributed within references [98–118].

Hi all,

I'm a med student in Portugal with no coding background. I've been learning R alone (R for Data Science and Irizarry's Introduction to Data Science, plus an epidemiology book). My goal is to become independent in data analysis for clinical research.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a professor who is an R specialist and works in clinical research, and I'd like to go in with good questions. A few things I'd love your input on:

1. Timeline: how long did it take you to be autonomous enough in R (cleaning data, descriptive stats, regression, plots, reproducible reports) to be trusted with real projects?

2)Paid work: does a market exist for med students or juniors doing paid statistical or data analysis for research groups, or is it mostly unpaid or authorship-based at this stage? If it does exist, what are typical rates (per hour or per project)?

3)What should I ask the professor? Especially considering I'm in Portugal: grants, research fellowships, summer internships, or ways to build a track record that leads to independence.

Any advice from people in research, biostatistics or medicine is very welcome. Thanks!

As mentioned, im a student and I recently completed my first paper in biomaterials. It was an in vitro study. I completed a draft based on rubrics posted by my supervisor. Now im looking into publishing it but dont have time to edit as per the journal criteria. So im looking for help. Any tips or instructions will very much be appreciated as im looking to continue in the research field.

I know it sounds kinda rudimentary but I’ve been over relying on AI for extracting points from sources to the point that I struggle to read long sites on my own to comprehend them fully in all kinds topics. Advices are highly appreciated

I am new and have started research. I have already read 11 papers about AI agent security, but I can't find a gap. Where should I start my research?

I’m trying to understand a behavioral transition that seems to sit between several areas of psychology: the point where someone begins to recognize an interest but has not yet acted on it in the real world.

Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development describes interest as something that can develop from triggered situational interest into a more enduring individual interest. What I’m particularly interested in is what happens between “this might interest me” and “I actually went and tried it.”

For example, someone might recognize an emerging interest in woodworking, entrepreneurship, music, mechanics, gardening, etc., but never take an exploratory step such as trying a small project, attending an event, contacting someone in the field, or learning the first skill.

There seem to be several overlapping literatures that could help explain this:

-interest development

-exploratory behavior

-self-efficacy

-self-determination theory

-implementation intentions

-intention-behavior gaps

-vocational/career exploration

-identity development and possible selves

-behavioral activation

Implementation-intention research suggests that specifying when, where, and how an action will occur can help translate intentions into behavior (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006), but I’m wondering whether there is a construct or theoretical model that more specifically captures this sequence:

emerging interest → exploratory action → feedback from experience → increased/decreased interest

I’m especially interested in research involving adults, including people who may not begin with a clear career goal or established passion.

Is there an established construct, model, or body of literature that best describes this process? Papers or researcher recommendations would be appreciated.

References:

Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102\_4⁠

Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1⁠

For my bachelor's thesis I wanted to do a research aimed towards LLMs in dementia care. Initially it sounded easy enough: get a BASIC LLM and specialized and compare them. But as soon as I got to do anything I faced the problem that practically any good LLM now automatically finds validation technique and applies it to the answers which kinda renders my research useless. I am also kinda lost on how to do such research. ​

Is this a valid Bachelor's thesis research, or is it too trivial because modern LLMs already know how to apply empathy/validation techniques? I mean for now it looks like just tell chatGPT "answer using X technique" and voila!

I do have a supervisor and already made an appointment to discuss it with them but before that day comes I wanted to hear other opinions and consider if it is even worth the attention.

My professor let me skip a test and write a paper about my own research instead. He said, “I want this class to be useful to your research.” That honestly changed my perception of myself from just being a student to actually being a researcher.

Long time lurker here but I need you for this one gang :)

Is anyone here doing research in embodied question answering? If so, what's your motivation? If you have considered it but decided against it, what convinced you? With the advent of physical AI research, would you consider this area of the field a fruitful one?

So basically my thesis is due VERY soon and it’s my first time writing up a thesis. I am up to the discussion section and am finding it incredibly hard to start writing. For context, my course does not allow us to get feedback from our supervisors on the discussion section.

My survey and lab findings do not align with each other in the sense that my hypothesis is only partially supported for my survey findings and not supported at all for my lab findings. Saying that though a lot of my lab work has been optimisation and it is very early mechanistic work (so if this mechanism doesn’t explain our data, there’s other possible explanations that haven’t been explored yet). My survey explores a novel cohort where there is no previous literature in this context, there is a little bit of literature about similar cohorts for other body sites but also not many papers there.

Where do I begin? If there isn’t a lot of previous literature do I refer to literature from other body sites, other bacteria, as similar cohort or exposures as possible?

I understand have to write a brief overview, refer to my findings in the context of literature and if it is supported or conflicts current data, strengths/limitations, significance and future directions… but how do I ACTUALLY start writing especially when literature is sparse. Any advice would be appreciated