The responsible conduct of research is at the heart of academic practice. However, over the past decades, the concepts of research integrity and responsible conduct have been contested. We have seen a number of scandals both nationally (e.g. the Penkowa case at the University of Copenhagen) and internationally (e.g. the Wakefield case in the UK and the Stapel case in the Netherlands) which raise concern and open up core questions of how we conduct research in a responsible manner. Some key questions are:

• What are the responsibilities of higher education institutions in regards to strengthening research integrity?
• What is the role of teachers and researchers in terms of research integrity?
• What are the implications of the rising pressure institutions in terms of research integrity? E.g. for teaching, for the academic profession etc. etc.

 

Background

 

The focus on research integrity in HEPP stems from the momentum achieved by the project Practicing Integrity (PI). In the project, we investigated why and how the policy focus on research integrity had emerged and how new demands and norms of codes of conduct for research integrity influence current academic practice in higer education:

• organisationally (by leaders, managers, supervisors),
• institutionally (in the education of early-career researchers) and
• individually (in navigating the day-to-day incentives and pressures of academic research).

The project events revealed a considerable interest in the topic not only among students, teachers and researchers, but also among administrators, managers and policy makers. We therefore decided to continue working with these issues.

 

Aims 

 

We aim to establish a dynamic and inclusive network and facilitate spaces where we can discuss and explore issues of research integrity, ethics, and their implications for academic practice. We wish to bring together people from various places and positions in the academic environment to learn from sharing experiences. This means that some activities will be open to a audience beyond DUN, including e.g. policy-makers, research integrity officers, teachers and researchers from university colleges into the discussion.

 

Activities

 

As part of the follow-up work of the Practicing Integrity project, we are planning:

Conference on research integrity, 13 November 2020 (format and content for discussion)

• Aim - to reinvigorate the discussion initiated at the final conference of Practicing Integrity.
• Short events focusing on teaching research integrity, research integrity at university colleges, the PhD experience, etc.

 

These events are still on the drawing board and we hope discussions in HEPP will help us find their best content and scope.