Educating PhD Students in Research Integrity in Europe

No university or research institution is immune to research misconduct or the more widespread problem of questionable research practices. To strengthen integrity in research, universities worldwide have developed education in research integrity. However, little is known about education in research i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science and engineering ethics 2021-02, Vol.27 (1), p.5-5, Article 5
Main Authors: Abdi, Shila, Pizzolato, Daniel, Nemery, Benoit, Dierickx, Kris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioethics
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Colleges & universities
Content analysis
Curricula
Education
Engineering
Ethics
Integrity
Medicine/Public Health
Original Research/Scholarship
Philosophy
Philosophy of Science
Research facilities
Research institutions
Research programs
Students
Teachers
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Summary:No university or research institution is immune to research misconduct or the more widespread problem of questionable research practices. To strengthen integrity in research, universities worldwide have developed education in research integrity. However, little is known about education in research integrity for PhD students in European research-intensive universities. We conducted a content analysis of didactic materials of 11 of the 23 members of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) to map out the content, format, frequency, duration, timing, and compulsory status of their training programmes and the characteristics of instructors of the onsite courses. Quantitative results revealed substantial variation in educational materials among the studied institutions. This variation might be because European research universities are free to design curricula without any requirements from the European, national, or institutional public funding channels. Given the challenges inherent to modern science and preventing misconduct, research institutions should empower future generations of researchers to engage in responsible research practices. To promote integrity in research among PhD students, we provide a set of recommendations for university-wide education in research integrity for doctoral trainees based on our investigation of educational resources.
ISSN:1353-3452
1471-5546
DOI:10.1007/s11948-021-00290-0