Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research

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Pellicano, E., Adams, D., Crane, L., Hollingue, C., Allen, C., Almendinger, K., Botha, M., Haar, T., Kapp, S. K., & Wheeley, E. (2023). Letter to the Editor: A possible threat to data integrity for online qualitative autism research. Autism, 28(3), 786-792. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231174543

Publication date: 22 May 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
10
Publication authors identified as autistic
3 / 10 (30.0%)
  1. Elizabeth Pellicano
  2. Dawn Adams
  3. Laura Crane
  4. Calliope Hollingue
  5. Connie Allen
  1. Katherine Almendinger
  2. Monique Botha *
  3. Tori Haar *
  4. Steven K. Kapp *
  5. Elizabeth Wheeley

Abstract

Researchers are increasingly relying on online methods for data collection, including for qualitative research involving interviews and focus groups. In this letter, we alert autism researchers to a possible threat to data integrity in such studies: “scammer” participants, who may be posing as autistic people and/or parents of autistic children in research studies, presumably for financial gain. Here, we caution qualitative autism researchers to be vigilant of potential scammer participants in their online studies and invite a broader discussion about the implications of such fraudulent acts. Lay abstract Doing research online, via Zoom, Teams, or live chat, is becoming more and more common. It can help researchers to reach more people, including from different parts of the world. It can also make the research more accessible for participants, especially those with different communication preferences. However, online research can have its downsides too. We have recently been involved in three studies in which we had in-depth discussions with autistic people and/or parents of autistic children about various topics. It turns out, though, that some of these participants were not genuine. Instead, we believe they were “scammer participants”: people posing as autistic people or parents of autistic children, possibly to gain money from doing the research. This is a real problem because we need research data that we can trust. In this letter, we encourage autism researchers to be wary of scammer participants in their own research.

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Cited references
23
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
7 / 23 (30.4%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
46 / 137 (33.6%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 46 / 96 (47.9%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 42 / 126 (33.3%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
96 / 137 (70.1%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 85 / 126 (67.5%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
50 / 96 (52.1%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 50 / 137 (36.5%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 43 / 85 (50.6%).
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