Academic Affiliation and Research in a Personal Capacity
From The Embassy of Good Science
ResourcesCases
Academic Affiliation and Research in a Personal Capacity
What is this about?
A complaint was made to the Executive Board at VU Amsterdam regarding a research report submitted by a researcher affiliated with the university but who produced the report in a personal capacity. Nevertheless, the report stated that the researcher carries out work with a VU Amsterdam research group. A subsequent petition was made to LOWI on the basis that the Executive Board had informed the complainants that it is not the university's responsibility to conduct an investigation or make statements about the research due to the fact that the assignment was issued to the author in a personal capacity. This is a factual anonymized case.
Why is this important?
It consider whether research in a personal capacity falls within the scope of a university's complaints procedure.
For whom is this important?
ResearchersResearch Ethics CommitteesResearch Integrity OfficersAdministratorsResearch institutionsUniversities
What are the best practices?
When a complaint is submitted to the Executive Board of a university, it is the Board's duty to forward the case to the university's research integrity office.
When researchers are commissioned to produced research in a personal capacity, the associated studies should explicitly state that the authors are working in a personal capacity. In addition, there should be no mention of their academic affiliations.
