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Calibrating the compass towards research integrity. Promoting integrity through education and investigations of alleged research misconduct

Boek - Dissertatie

The issues of research integrity and research misconduct feature regularly in academic journals and the lay press (Macilwain, 2012). Research misconduct does not only affect those who are directly or indirectly involved in misconduct cases, but also the entire research community, as it harms the prevailing ethos of research, and it raises questions about the foundational trustworthiness of research (Cohen, et al, 2012). This trust consists of both the public's trust in research and the mutual trust of researchers within the international scientific community. Given that current research is increasingly a collective undertaken, both between disciplines and between countries, a breach in trust has a huge impact (Alberts, 2012). Scientific misconduct can also contribute to wrong policies. The societal costs of misconduct are many and extend well beyond financial aspects (Michalek, et al, 2010). It threatens the progression, excellence, and very existence of science. Therefore, research into the mechanisms and determinants of research integrity and misconduct is essential. Few studies have been published on research integrity and misconduct in Europe (Bosch, 2010). The research of Godecharle et al has already provided a novel overview and analysis of existing national guidelines of European countries (Godecharle, et al, 2013). However, two critical unresolved issues in the field of research integrity are still remained. Those will be the focus of this doctoral project. The first, mainly generic and theoretical issue concerns the importance of intention when committing misconduct. There is remarkable discrepancy within European guidelines about whether 'intention' should be considered as a key factor for defining a practice as misconduct (Swedish Research Council, 2011). It is clear that at least in theory an ethical evaluation of an act should take into account the intention of the acting person. However, there a contradictory voices in the guidelines of the European countries. The analysis of existing misconduct cases with special focus on the topic of intention is lacking. This has to be clarified. The second, mainly practical issue concerns the possibility of preventing research misconduct by education and training in research integrity. Various countries and universities promote different formats of training (online training, formal teaching, individual coaching by the supervisor, etc). However, there is no consensus across Europe about the 'content, format, timing, or frequency of such courses, nor is there a common view on who needs training and who qualifies to lead training (Bliuc, et al, 2011). So far, no research has been conducted on research integrity training in Europe. Because of the importance of these trainings, it's crucial to create an overview of how the situation is in Europe.
Jaar van publicatie:2022
Toegankelijkheid:Open