What is this about? (Is About)
From The Embassy of Good Science
A short summary providing some details about the theme/resource (max. 75 words)
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The case discusses the relevance of better conflict of interests regulations in accepting a research misconduct allegation. An argument is provided that the U.S. research misconduct regulations are flawed in requiring research misconduct assessors/experts/accused, but not accusers, to reveal possible conflicts of interest (COI) that could affect research misconduct allegations.
Rather than using peer-reviewed, scientific-journal literature to try to defend his account of hormesis against Shrader-Frechette’s scientific criticisms, on August 23, 2011 Calabrese instead filed RM charges against ShraderFrechette with her employer, the University of Notre Dame (UND). The UND Research Integrity Policy, like that of virtually all U.S. universities, is mandated by ORI. It requires that “upon receiving an allegation of research misconduct,” the university must “immediately assess the allegation.” Thus UND appointed a faculty committee to assess Calabrese’s allegations. +
This training accompanies the RE4GREEN Annex to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ECoC). The Annex provides interpretive guidance on how established research integrity principles — reliability, honesty, respect, and accountability — can be understood in relation to environmental and climate considerations.
Before completing this micromodule, learners are invited to read the Annex, which explores how environmental and climate considerations intersect with research integrity practices and potential violations. The exercises in this training are designed to support reflection on these issues in a concise and applied format. +
Research Integrity flashcards +
This theme addresses research integrity in retrospective clinical studies, with a particular focus on metodological transparency, responsible data use, and ethical considerations in everyday medical research.
Retrospective studies are widely used in clinical practice;however, they require careful attention to data accuracy, bias control, patient confidentiality, and transparent reporting. This theme aims to stimulate discussion on how to strengthen ethical standards and scientific rigor in routine clinical research. +
Research Integrity in trying times: a scenario on the presentation and dissemination of information +
This scenario focuses on how '''information is''' '''presented and disseminated,''' at different points of a research project. Other issues highlighted are:
· Research integrity and research ethics during a global emergency
· Excluding relevant information from a research proposal
· International and interdisciplinary collaborations
· Responsibility of researchers when communicating unreviewed information
· Author permissions before publication
· Researchers’ accountability for the integrity of the project
· Retraction practices
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This is a series of lectures looking at different aspects of research integrity and their application in biomedical research. +
This blog presents the factual case of a post doc researcher who systematically sabotaged the experiments of a graduate student in his lab in order to ‘get ahead’. +
The sensational “reactome array” paper published in Science in 2009 was investigated in Spain by the Ethics Committee of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) after Science issued an editorial expression of concern. The paper was retracted in 2010 because of “skepticism” due to “errors” in chemistry. The “errors” were so profound that many readers expressed doubt that they were really errors, but part of an elaborate hoax. +
This online module provides information on Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). It is intended particularly for researchers in the early stages of their careers and trainers. The module contains multiple activities, such as games, quizzes, cases and possibilities for reflection. The aim of this module is to raise awareness, promote RCR and prepare young researchers to deal with challenges of their future careers . +
This factual case reports a failure to declare a conflict of interest by researchers of experimental interventions at a university. The researchers studied a disputed therapy that is endorsed by a controversial organization. According to the university and the publisher, the researchers failed to declare that they had affiliations with the organization. However, the authors stated in a press release on the situation that they did declare their conflicts of interest in all instances. +
Members of The Embassy of Good Science have developed a set of eight scenarios for educational purposes and to stimulate strategic thinking about issues in research ethics and research integrity.
This scenario presents a hypothetical narrative concerning the links between '''[https://zenodo.org/record/4063611#.X3cGAJNKjxQ research procedures and research integrity]'''.
It focuses on issues regarding:
*Hypothesizing after the results ('HARKing');*P-hacking;*Selection bias;*University procedures, processes and guidelines to address HARKing, P-hacking and selection bias.
It is interspersed with questions and resource suggestions that help guide researchers, research ethics committees ('RECs'), research integrity offices ('RIOs') and research administrators in their deliberations concerning the research integrity issues raised by the narrative. +
This is a developed case study for organizing a detailed group discussion the issue of reproducibility or replicability. The case addresses many of the potential experimental design issues, practices, and pressures that can undermine research reproducibility. +
The Research and Scientific Integrity Policy (2018), published by the National Research Council Canada, sets out a national framework to strengthen research integrity and responsible conduct across the full research cycle. It emphasises honesty, accountability, stewardship, and professional courtesy, linking these values to credibility, reproducibility, and societal trust. The policy defines responsibilities for researchers, supervisors, institutions, funders, and journals, with clear expectations on authorship, citation, conflict of interest, transparency of data and methods, supervision, and peer review. It establishes fair procedures for addressing misconduct, including definitions, proportional sanctions, and learning opportunities, while aligning Canadian practice with international standards such as the Singapore and Montreal Statements. Education and training are central, ensuring students and staff are equipped with integrity skills. The policy also addresses emerging issues such as open science, data management, and digital tools, and provides practical aids like checklists, reporting templates, and FAQs to support day-to-day implementation. Equity and diversity are embedded as cross-cutting themes, highlighting that inclusive, respectful environments are essential to credible research. +
The document 'Research and scientific integrity policy', developed in 2018 in Canada, is a national guideline that addresses the principles of research integrity. Authored by National Research Council Canada, and available in English, it targets the research community in Canada . It provides clear expectations for responsible conduct in research and defines practices that safeguard honesty, transparency, and accountability. The text outlines responsibilities of both individual researchers and institutions. It identifies misconduct such as plagiarism, data falsification, fabrication, and unethical authorship, while also promoting good practices in publication, peer review, and collaborative research. It emphasizes effective data management, openness in reporting, and respect for colleagues, participants, and the wider community. Institutions are encouraged to create supportive environments through policies, training, and oversight mechanisms. The document serves as an official reference for aligning national research standards with international expectations, reinforcing ethical norms across research fields. +
A graduate student defends her dissertation proposal, but her study is rejected by the institutional review board by unnecessarily burdening research subjects without promising new results. The grad student believes she should try recruiting participants outside of the supervision of the review board. The case study discusses the responsibility of the student as well as the supervisor for planning and implementing a study. +
The Royal Society has started a programme of work to explore how to promote the cultural conditions that will best enable excellent research and researchers. he focus of this programme is on the assessment of research and researchers, researcher career development, and open science. The page consists of videos, blog posts and further material regarding research culture. +
Research culture can be defined in numerous ways and various perspectives can be taken on what constitutes a ‘good’ research culture. One possible definition of research culture is that it constitutes the “behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes and norms” of research communities.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"'
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Research ethics committee conditions: Ethical challenges of researching with poor communities in Malawi +
As an international academic team we have been engaged with researching African household and young people’s livelihood trajectories in a Malawian village since 2007. Intermittently over more than a decade we have conducted surveys, interviews and participatory research with many of the young and adult residents of that small rural community, thereby building up a detailed knowledge of the community and developing extensive personal relations with individuals and families. +
Research ethics in emerging forms of online learning: Issues arising from a hypothetical study on a MOOC +
This study is about research ethics in context of online research such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), aiming to summarize recent debates regarding current approaches and different views on ethical decision-making in online learning setting. The author encourages the opportunity for contextualized ethical decision-making. +
Research ethics training of trainers: Developing capacity of Bolivian health science and civil society leaders +
This article provides information on RE Training of Trainers (TOT) that was conducted in Bolivia. The training included face-to-face, online and practicum components, with twenty trainees, including faculty, researchers and community leaders. It resulted in 10% increase in RE knowledge. +
