China
Africa
Principles
This page is part of Taylor & Francis and Sense about Science's research integrity toolkit.
Pressures
Some systemic pressures undermine research integrity.
For example, pressure to publish papers or to compete for funding and job security can encourage bad practices such as omitting data or overstating authorship.
As an early career researcher, you may feel some pressures more acutely, and it is important that you have confident knowledge of the principles of research integrity and good practice throughout the research cycle.
I’ve seen issues related to lack of informed consent, when malaria-control interventions have been implemented which while reducing morbidity and mortality, also lower the immunity of the community, and are then withdrawn causing rebound infections. I wonder whether if the community had been given all the information, they would have accepted being part of the study.
Employability precarity... I have been through six-month contracts and shorter, some fixed-term contracts without any guarantee that the contract is not the last one. This creates a lot of stress to perform while also looking for other jobs in the background.
Principles for research integrity
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2023) sets out four principles for research integrity:
- Reliability in ensuring the quality of research, reflected in the design, methodology, analysis, and use of resources
- Honesty in developing, undertaking, reviewing, reporting, and communicating research in a transparent, fair, full, and unbiased way
- Respect for colleagues, research participants, research subjects, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage, and the environment
- Accountability for the research from idea to publication, for its management and organization, for training, supervision, and mentoring, and for its wider societal impacts
These principles govern guidance on research integrity and help you to think about what to do in new situations.
It is your responsibility to think about and adhere to ethical guidelines. Doing so embeds transparency and honesty in your work, and fosters a culture of integrity within your teams, institutions, and collaborations.
Having proactive support from those in more senior positions has made me more confident to advocate for research integrity.
The Singapore Statement from the World Conferences on Research Integrity includes a list of 14 responsibilities of researchers, which are useful when reflecting on how you can embed research integrity into practice.
Follow the links below to see how researchers do this in practice at each stage of the research cycle.
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