Poor mentoring or supervision of early career researcherers
From The Embassy of Good Science
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ThemesPoor mentoring or supervision of early career researcherers
What is this about?
Mentors/supervisors of early career researchers (master students, doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows) very often are not aware of what is expected from them in the diadic relationship of a mentor and a mentee. This can lead to misunderstandings and poor research practices, which can finally lead to research misbehaviour and misconduct. Analysis of misconduct cases by the US Office for Research Integrity in the USA showed that in man cases mentors failed to properly review research data collected by the mentee, did not teach them specific research standards, and did not ensure healthy, less stressful work environment. This is particularly relevant in large collaborative research collaborations, where the roles and responsibilities of all researchers in the collaboration may be unclear and blurred among different research groups.
Why is this important?
Both the mentors and the mentees need to be aware of what is expected in their collaboration and professional relationship. Research performing institutions should ensure that they devote more attention to training of both the mentees and mentors about what mentoring means and how to build it for successful outcome of research mentoring.
For whom is this important?
Academic staffAdvisors of studentsresearchersDoctoral studentsEarly career researchersEducatorsMentorsFunders
What are the best practices?
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity defines good practices for training, supervision and mentoring:
"Senior researchers, research leaders and supervisors mentor their team members and offer specific guidance and training to properly develop, design and structure their research activity and to foster a culture of research integrity"Ana Marusic contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Mar 01, 2022
