Research IT

🎓 EDUCATIONAL FOCUS

Research IT was created as part of a master’s thesis focused on academic ethics and research integrity.

The goal of the game is to help players better recognize ethical grey zones in scientific research and publishing.

Before playing, you need to complete a short anonymous pre-game questionnaire. This is required, because it provides the baseline for the research evaluation.

After finishing the game, you will find the post-game questionnaire in the game menu marked with a red button. Before leaving, please fill it in if you can. It is voluntary, but it greatly helps with evaluating the educational effect of the game and the overall player experience.

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🧪 RESEARCH IT

A 2D educational management game about scientific research, academic publishing, and research integrity.

Build your academic career, publish papers, manage a research team, and make ethical decisions on your way toward the ultimate goal:

🏆 WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE

But getting there will not be easy.

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🎮 WHAT KIND OF GAME IS THIS?

Research IT is a 2D educational management game where you play as an early-career researcher navigating grants, deadlines, peer review, publication pressure, and ethical dilemmas.

You will choose research grants, manage your team, solve computer science mini-games, write research articles, select publication venues, and deal with the consequences of your decisions.

Short-term success may be tempting, but unethical choices can damage your reputation, integrity, and long-term scientific impact.

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🔬 WHAT YOU DO IN THE GAME

📜 Choose grants

Pick research grants with different topics, deadlines, rewards, and difficulty.

👥 Manage your team

Assign tasks to team members and use their strengths to improve your results.

🧩 Play mini-games

Solve mini-games based on computer science and software engineering topics.

✍️ Write articles

Turn your results into papers and decide how honest, transparent, and rigorous they will be.

📰 Publish your work

Submit to legitimate, questionable, or predatory venues — each with different risks and rewards.

⚖️ Face consequences

Your choices affect reputation, integrity, funding, research impact, ethical risks, and progress toward the Nobel Prize.

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👨‍🎓 WHO IS IT FOR?

Research IT is intended for:

• students of computer science and software engineering

• PhD students and early-career researchers

• anyone interested in academic ethics

• anyone curious about scientific publishing and research culture

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🏁 YOUR GOAL

Publish quality research.

Protect your integrity.

Build your reputation.

Avoid scandals.

And ultimately...

🏆 EARN THE NOBEL PRIZE

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The fastest path is not always the right one.

Will you become a respected scientist —

or just another academic success story built on shortcuts?