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Lessons Learned Identifying and Controlling Fraudulent Participation in Online Randomized Trials

Lessons Learned Identifying and Controlling Fraudulent Participation in Online Randomized Trials

Potential participants who presented in a manner consistent with our “fraud detection” checklist were marked for principal investigator (PI) review. Upon review of this information, the PI would decide whether to deem the participant ineligible or invite them for a consent and baseline assessment. For phone screening, we amended our protocol to conduct “phone” screens by videoconference rather than phone only in cases where there were markers of possible fraud at prescreening.

Robert Siebers, Kara M Magane, Hattie Slayton, Skylar Karzhevsky, Tibor P Palfai, Ana M Abrantes, Lisa M Quintiliani, Michael D Stein

J Med Internet Res 2025;27:e77512


Imposters, Bots, and Other Threats to Data Integrity in Online Research: Scoping Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Best Practices

Imposters, Bots, and Other Threats to Data Integrity in Online Research: Scoping Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Best Practices

Other adverse effects included the heavy, and often wasteful, use of resources needed to address fraud. For example, some researchers with a high prevalence of participant fraud described having to end their study and start over, wasting valuable time and resources. Some articles even discussed how dealing with high proportions of imposter participants can be difficult to handle emotionally as researchers.

Isabella B Strickland, Amy K Ferketich, Alayna P Tackett, Joanne G Patterson, Nicholas J K Breitborde, Jade Davis, Megan Roberts

Online J Public Health Inform 2025;17:e70926


Increasing Rigor in Online Health Surveys Through the Reduction of Fraudulent Data

Increasing Rigor in Online Health Surveys Through the Reduction of Fraudulent Data

While IP addresses can be shared among legitimate respondents in communal spaces or households, patterns of identical IP addresses across multiple submissions can indicate fraud. Researchers can consider implementing a feature to flag multiple submissions from the same IP address [33]. However, this alone should not be used as an automatic rejection measure, but considered as an aid in the review of responses for potential data quality issues.

Wen Zhi Ng, Sundarimaa Erdembileg, Jean C J Liu, Joseph D Tucker, Rayner Kay Jin Tan

J Med Internet Res 2025;27:e68092


Effective Recruitment or Bot Attack? The Challenge of Internet-Based Research Surveys and Recommendations to Reduce Risk and Improve Robustness

Effective Recruitment or Bot Attack? The Challenge of Internet-Based Research Surveys and Recommendations to Reduce Risk and Improve Robustness

In both case studies, new surveys were created and circulated with additional security measures in place, including location screening features, CAPTCHA coding, the use of fraud scores algorithms, and referral restrictions if recruitment occurs through social media (further strategies are discussed in the section “Ways to counteract a bot attack”).

Liesje Donkin, Nathan Henry, Amy Kercher, Mangor Pedersen, Holly Wilson, Amy Hai Yan Chan

Interact J Med Res 2025;14:e60548


Identifying Fraudulent Responses in a Study Exploring Delivery Options for Pregnancies Impacted by Gestational Diabetes: Lessons Learned From a Web-Based Survey

Identifying Fraudulent Responses in a Study Exploring Delivery Options for Pregnancies Impacted by Gestational Diabetes: Lessons Learned From a Web-Based Survey

Particularly when conducting research with vulnerable populations such as pregnant individuals, there is a tension between maintaining participant anonymity while using techniques to prevent data fraud and protect study integrity [7]. Pregnant individuals have traditionally been excluded from research trials due to ethical concerns and misinformed ideas about clinical research [8].

Emma Ruby, Serine Ramlawi, Alexa Clare Bowie, Stephanie Boyd, Alysha Dingwall-Harvey, Ruth Rennicks White, Darine El-Chaâr, Mark Walker

J Med Internet Res 2025;27:e58450


Peer Review of “Insider Threats to the Military Health System: A Systematic Background Check of TRICARE West Providers”

Peer Review of “Insider Threats to the Military Health System: A Systematic Background Check of TRICARE West Providers”

The study examines those who have received some sort of exclusion, sanction, or other reprimand based on health care fraud or harm. This study is timely and has practical implications for protecting patient care, particularly for those who are in a vulnerable position such as veterans or warfighters. I hope the following comments are taken as constructive criticism and interest in the overall improvement of the study. I appreciate the opportunity to review this study.

Anonymous

JMIRx Med 2024;5:e57701


Author’s Reponse to Peer Reviews of “Insider Threats to the Military Health System: A Systematic Background Check of TRICARE West Providers”

Author’s Reponse to Peer Reviews of “Insider Threats to the Military Health System: A Systematic Background Check of TRICARE West Providers”

The study examines those who have received some sort of exclusion, sanction, or other reprimand based on health care fraud or harm. This study is timely and has practical implications for protecting patient care, particularly for those who are in a vulnerable position such as veterans or warfighters. I hope the following comments are taken as constructive criticism and interest in the overall improvement of the study. I appreciate the opportunity to review this study.

David Bychkov

JMIRx Med 2024;5:e57116