Safeguarding Data Integrity in Online Podiatry Research: Understanding and Managing Non-Genuine Participation.

Online research methods have become increasingly common in podiatry, offering efficient, low cost and convenient data collection. Emerging evidence from online studies suggests that the integrity of online research is being compromised by participants who are not genuine: for example, they may not have the relevant health condition they are claiming to have or they may not be taking the trial medication as instructed. In health research, the consequences of non-genuine participants are significant, including unreliable data, wasted time and funding, researcher distress, loss of participant trust and, in some cases, cancelled projects. Growing awareness of fraudulent participation and reports of these challenges highlights the need for structured approaches designed to safeguard data integrity and the trustworthiness of results. In the United Kingdom, the University of Nottingham has recently published practical guidance for researchers and ethics committees on handling potential non-genuine participants. The aim of this commentary is to raise awareness of the risks posed by non-genuine participation in online research and to provide a summary of the recently published practical strategies for researchers to safeguard the integrity of their data.