Prevention of Research Results Distortion in the Field of Biological Psychiatry

Measures to prevent bias in personalized psychiatry research include strict data control, transparency of all procedures (from obtaining signed informed consent from patients with mental disorders to administering information transfer processes between departments within one or more research institutions), adherence to ethical standards, and a multi-level system of checks and audits. The specific nature of personalized psychiatry, based on individual data (genetics, biomarkers, lifestyle data), requires special attention to the integrity and reliability of the information. This article presents a review of international experience and, on this basis, advances proposals for preventing potential bias in the results of medical and biological research on mental functions. Distortions can occur at various stages of research – from poor collection and systematization of material, errors in entering data into tables (due to carelessness or lack of automation of this process) to intentional changes in the results through technical manipulation of microscopy images.