Country Report Card[edit | edit source]

The Netherlands[edit | edit source]

Netherlands is a country located in Europe.

National Research Integrity Landscape[edit | edit source]

The Netherlands have a national institutional structure in the Netherlands Board on Research Integrity (LOWI) with investigatory and opinion-making authority in research misconduct cases. It serves as a second advisory body only. It leaves the primer responsibility for investigating research misconduct cases with the research institutions where the alleged incident has occurred. All research institutions which are affiliated with the LOWI have a research committee on research integrity, dealing with research misconduct cases. This Committee advises its governing board which takes a (preliminary) decision on the alleged research misconduct after which the dissatisfied party can address to the LOWI. Apart from the LOWI, the Netherlands Research Integrity Network (NRIN) plays an important role in promoting research integrity in the Netherlands. The NRIN aims to facilitate collaboration, exchange and mutual learning between the actors in the field of research integrity. The NRIN does so by organising a diversity of open and closed meetings, and sharing information on its website and in its newsletters.

LOWI[edit | edit source]

In May 2003, a national institutional structure for research integrity, the Netherlands Board on Research Integrity (LOWI), was voluntarily and jointly established by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), including the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU). The LOWI is supported by a Secretariat that is attached to the (KNAW). In 2019, LOWI became a non-profit association in accordance with the Associations Act to underline its independent status. The LOWI is authorized to admit other research institutions as member. At present, the LOWI – next to the KNAW (and its institutes), NWO (and its institutes) and the universities and medical centres working together in the VSNU – has 12 member organisations. It is financed by membership fees. The LOWI is independent of its founders and affiliated member organisations.