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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Retraction Watch brings in the case of a chemist researcher who has had several papers retracted due to a number of research ethics misconduct issues, mainly falsification and fabrication of results. +
On Being a Scientist is a book published by the United States (US) National Academies Press and developed jointly by the US National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. The resource aims to inform ethics teaching and supervision. The ethical foundations of scientific practice are described, as well as typical challenges and dilemmas encountered by researchers in practice.
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This blog deals with the ethics in ethnography, using the factual case of Goffman's research. Alice Goffman's ethnographic research with Black men in low-income neighbourhoods has been the focus of controversy since its publication. Michaela Benson'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"' discusses this case.
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This factual case is about a political science PhD student, who was accused of scientific fraud. He did not agree with the retraction of his paper which was requested by his co-author. +
Retraction Watch brings in questions on how to deal with one's publication when it is heavily relied on research that might contain errors or misconduct issues. A researcher was faced with a difficult dilemma when she realised that a large proportion of the papers on her review on vitamin D links to Parkinson's Disease had been retracted. +
This tool provides information on what is appropriate in image processing in research and what is not. It contains guidelines, questionable practices, case study, misconduct cases and the continuum. It is intended for students and faculty members with aim of promoting research integrity. +
The aim of this online module is to inform the researchers on research misconduct, how to report it, how to cope with it and how to engage in practices that could decrease the possibility of research misconduct. +
This online course is an introduction to responsible conduct of research practices. It focuses on authorship and peer review through three cases, Q&A and some theoretical background. +
A complaint was made to a university against a lecturer in technology, who, it was claimed, had hindered the complainant's work by publishing disparaging and derogatory remarks about them on the internet. This is a factual anonymized case. +
This web-based book provides information on Responsible conduct of research, particularly in the field of biomedicine. It uses a problem-based approach to cover a wide array of topics important to scientists conducting clinical and biomedical research. Some of the topics covered are: ethics and rules of research in humans, importance of appropriate study design, conflict of interest, genetics and stem cell research, etc. +
The resource sets out Switzerland’s national guidance on open access, making openness the default while balancing ethics, privacy, and intellectual property. It requires researchers to provide open access to publications (via repositories or open journals), use Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and follow FAIR data principles. Responsibilities are outlined for researchers (rights retention, funding acknowledgment, data management), institutions (training, repositories), funders (supporting infrastructure), and publishers (interoperability, author rights). Exceptions for sensitive or commercial data are allowed but must be justified. Monitoring emphasizes quality metadata, transparency, code and data sharing rather than just counting outputs. Equity and responsible openness are key themes, promoting zero-embargo access when possible and supporting multilingual, inclusive communication. The policy aligns with international initiatives (Plan S, EOSC) and provides clear, practical steps to help Swiss researchers and institutions comply efficiently. +
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The policy makes openness the default for research in Austria, aiming for work to be ''as open as possible, as closed as necessary''. It requires open access to publications (via repositories or open journals), encourages Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and FAIR data practices. Researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers all have clear responsibilities: planning for openness from the start, retaining rights, acknowledging funding, and supporting repositories and infrastructure. Exceptions for sensitive or commercial data are allowed but must be justified transparently. The policy ties openness to research quality, reproducibility, equity, and global alignment (e.g., Plan S, EOSC). Monitoring focuses on the quality of openness—metadata, licensing, transparency—rather than just publication counts. Equity and responsible openness are emphasized, with safeguards for ethics, privacy, and inclusion. Overall, it provides practical, coherent guidance for Austrian stakeholders to comply with and benefit from open science.
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The Czech Academy of sciences comprises 54 research institutions that perform a broad range of research. The CAS encourages high quality research and the dissemination of results to the widest extent possible, so that its relevance and reach are maximized. Accordingly, member institutions are encouraged to adopt an open access policy. +
Open Access in Germany (2013), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung/ Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) +
Open Access in Germany (2013), produced by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), is a national policy written in German and aimed at stakeholders in Germany. It sets openness as the default principle, balanced by ethics, privacy, intellectual property, and security, under the maxim “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” The policy links open access to improving research quality, reproducibility, speed of dissemination, and equitable access to knowledge, particularly for communities lacking subscription access. Key elements include clear compliance routes for open access to publications, Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and depositing manuscripts or versions of record in trusted repositories. It also promotes FAIR data principles, data management plans, and transparent exceptions for sensitive or commercial data. Operational guidance assigns responsibilities to researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers, emphasizing rights retention, acknowledgment of funding, and justified embargo use. Infrastructure such as repositories, registries, and discovery tools supports compliance, while monitoring relies on reporting and progress indicators. The policy stresses responsible openness, equity, and multilingual communication, with safeguards for personal and sensitive data. For researchers, librarians, funders, and policymakers, it provides a coherent, actionable framework that aligns German practice with international standards. Published in 2013, it remains a benchmark for institutional policies, training, and grant documentation. +
Open Science - A practical guide for early-career researchers (2023), Brinkman, L., Dijk, E., de Jonge, H., Loorbach, N., & Rutten, D. +
Open Science, a Practical Guide for Early-Career Researchers (2023), produced in the Netherlands, provides actionable guidance to make research outputs as open as possible while respecting ethics, privacy, intellectual property, and security. It covers open access to publications, preferred Creative Commons licensing, deposition in trusted repositories, persistent identifiers, and FAIR-aligned data management plans. Researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers share responsibilities: planning for openness, retaining rights, acknowledging funding, providing infrastructure and training, and supporting interoperability. Limited embargoes or exceptions for sensitive data must be transparently justified. The guide emphasizes equity, zero-embargo access, multilingual communication, and minimizing publication costs, while prioritizing the quality of openness metadata, reproducibility, and machine-readability over publication counts. It aligns with international initiatives such as Plan S and EOSC, and provides practical examples, FAQs, and workflows. By consolidating dispersed rules into a coherent framework, it helps early-career researchers comply efficiently and contribute to a transparent, inclusive research ecosystem in the Netherlands. +
The Open Science Manifesto (2019), produced by OSCDnet, provides an international framework for open science and open access. Written in English, it translates high-level principles into actionable guidance for researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers worldwide, promoting openness as the default while respecting ethics, privacy, intellectual property, and security. The manifesto links openness to research quality, reproducibility, equitable access, and faster translation of knowledge, particularly for communities with limited subscription access. Core elements include open access to publications with preferred licensing (e.g., Creative Commons), deposition in trusted repositories, FAIR data principles, and comprehensive data management plans. Responsibilities for authors and institutions cover funding acknowledgment, rights retention, and budgeting, while justified embargoes and exceptions for sensitive data are transparently documented. It encourages enabling infrastructure repositories, registries, discovery services and aligns with initiatives such as Plan S and the European Open Science Cloud. Assessment emphasizes the quality of openness, including machine-readable metadata, persistent identifiers, and sharing of methods, code, and data. Equity, multilingual communication, and capacity building are emphasized to prevent reinforcing disparities. Implementation relies on early planning, institutional support, and funder-backed infrastructure. The manifesto serves as a practical reference, checklist, and benchmark, supporting compliance, transparency, reproducibility, and alignment with global norms. +
Open Science Platform (2018), Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (MESTD) +
The Open Science Platform (2018), issued by Serbia’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, sets national guidance to make research outputs openly available, with openness as the default but balanced against ethics, privacy, intellectual property, and security. It requires open access to publications via trusted repositories, promotes Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and FAIR-aligned data management, and assigns responsibilities across researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers. Exceptions for sensitive or commercial data are allowed but must be transparently justified. The policy supports adoption through infrastructures such as repositories and registries, aligns with international initiatives like Plan S and EOSC, and emphasizes the quality of openness metadata, interoperability, reproducibility over output counts. It also highlights equity by encouraging zero-embargo access, lowering financial barriers, and supporting multilingual communication. Implementation is grounded in clear roles, reporting, and monitoring, making the platform a coherent and practical framework that links Serbia’s open science practices to global standards. +
This hub outlines the Research Council of Norway’s approach to open science, covering open access to publications, sharing and re‑use of research data, assessment of open science practices in grant applications, and national participation in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). It sets the principle of “as open as possible, as closed as necessary,” grounded in FAIR data and responsible openness. Researchers funded by the Council must prepare data management plans;deposit articles open access through compliant routes;and, where appropriate, make datasets available via trusted repositories with persistent identifiers. The site links to practical guidance for data management planning, licensing and rights, and explains exceptions for sensitive or security‑relevant data. It also describes how open science is operationalised in evaluations: applicants are assessed on sharing plans, use of preprints where suitable, and practices that support transparency and reproducibility. Additional pages provide advice on open access routes (gold, diamond and repository‑based), costs and compliance tips, and Norway’s coordination with EOSC to align infrastructure and policy. Collectively, the pages function as a living manual for researchers and administrators navigating policy, compliance and best practice.<div><div><div><div></div><div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div><div><div><div></div></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> +
Open access policy for IDRC-funded project results (2015), International Development Research Centre (IDRC) +
The IDRC Open Access Policy (2015) sets expectations that results from IDRC-funded projects be made openly available, with openness as the default but balanced against ethics, privacy, intellectual property, and security. It requires open access to publications (preferably under Creative Commons licences), deposition in trusted repositories, FAIR-aligned data management, and clear rights retention. Responsibilities are shared: researchers must plan for openness and acknowledge funding, institutions should provide training and infrastructure, funders support core systems, and publishers ensure interoperability and author rights. While limited exceptions are allowed for sensitive or commercial data, these must be justified transparently. The policy emphasises equity, zero-embargo access where feasible, and inclusive practices such as multilingual communication, while monitoring focuses on the quality of openness metadata, reproducibility, and accessibility rather than output counts. +
This project aims to combine social and natural science methodology to assess whether open data can improve research transparency, reproducibility and discovery. The main focus of the project are the fields of ecology and evolution. +
