Accountability

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Should I be the “whistleblower”?

In real life it is not easy for research misconduct to come to light. This is because details of how research is conducted are often known only to the people who work on it. And when research misconduct is perceived, not everyone is willing to speak out. Section 2.8 of HKU Policy on Research Integrity says, “Members of the university should report to the authorities concerned any research misconduct or suspected misconduct.” It recognises everyone shares the responsibility to uphold research integrity within the institution,

Categories: Accountability, Objectivity, Reporting Irresponsible Research Practices|

The importance of formal procedures to deal with allegations of research misconduct

Professor Richard Epstein (University of Chicago Law School) has written an article in which he emphasises the importance of "established and settled institutional arrangements" (rather than "sloppy and ad hoc procedures") to investigate allegations of research misconduct in each university. Epstein points out that there should be no appearance of bias by the person(s) responsible for the investigation. Referring to his own experience in shaping the procedures at the University of Chicago, he writes that: "in order to avoid any risk of bias, the appointment of the

Categories: Abuse of Data, Accountability, Case Studies, Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism, Proper Data Handling, Publication-related Conduct, Reporting Irresponsible Research Practices, Research Misconduct|Tags: , , |

Is peer review confidentiality overridden when the author is suspected of misconduct?

The following case study was published by the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): Editor A wrote to editor B, indicating that one of the reviewers of a paper submitted to Journal A contained material that had been submitted at about the same time to Journal B. Editor A requested a copy of the paper submitted to Journal B. Editor B responded, confirming that the paper in question had been submitted to Journal B (submission date two weeks earlier than the paper submitted to Journal A),

Categories: Accountability, Case Studies, Duty of Care, Publication-related Conduct, Reporting Irresponsible Research Practices|Tags: , , , , |

HKU Policy on Research Integrity: Authorship Criteria

The HKU Policy on Research Integrity covers authorship criteria in the following sections: Section 1 ('Principle of Research Integrity'): All members of the University must observe the highest standards of professional conduct and must comply with the following principles of research integrity in pursuing their research activities: [...] fairness in giving credit and appropriate acknowledgement [...] [All researchers] must be fair in giving credit for the work of other researchers who participate in the research. [...] In pursing their research activities, members of the University

Categories: Accountability, Acknowledgement, Improper Ascription of Authorship, Policies, Principles of Research Integrity, Publication-related Conduct|Tags: , , |