Responsible conduct of research

Science today is more important than ever. In a world of fast and fake news, robust and trustworthy results of scientific research are highly necessary. Research today is not only broadcasted wider, possibilities are greater, and stakes are higher. This even increases the importance of robust and honest research, referred to as Responsible Conduct of Research, RCR.

The following module will look at how good academic research practices respect the basic principles of integer research:

• during the design and conduct phase of your research
• when you come to reporting your research results
• when there might be a conflict of interest
• when you communicate your research results to a broader audience
• during a researcher’s evaluation and assessment.

Understanding how these principles apply to your work and implementing them where relevant, is part of what it means to be a good researcher. You will encounter several integrity topics in future training and in daily research practice but getting acquainted with these issues now is the first step in accurately recognising and dealing with them, and therefore a necessity for all researchers.

RCR refers to a lot more than dealing with issues of research integrity. Because of the importance of RCR this tool provided supplementary modules further in this course. The supplementary modules are about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Ethics rules and regulations for research. All of which are important aspects of good research and RCR and thus, it’s highly recommended to go through those modules. As research integrity is the core of this course, all of the items above are discussed in relation to integrity.