ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, last week published a revised edition of The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, a document that serves the European research community as a framework for self-regulation across all scientific and scholarly disciplines and for all research settings.
The revised document is based on the 2011 version – where the FNR was still involved at ESF (European Science Foundation) – and is widely recognised as a general framework for research integrity on the continent.
At the European level, the European Commission uses the Code as a reference document in the Horizon 2020 Model Grant Agreement, with the FNR doing the same.
The Council of the European Union, during the Luxembourg presidency, also reaffirmed the importance of the ALLEA Code in its Council conclusions of 1 December 2015, which presented research integrity as an essential condition for achieving scientific excellence and socio-economic impact.
The updated publication was presented to the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, in Brussels, who recognised the relevance of the ALLEA Code as a model for organisations and researchers across Europe. The Code seeks to empower individual researchers and a variety of research bodies, funding agencies and publishers by creating a common understanding of how research should be conducted.
The revised code:
- Refers to four fundamental principles of research integrity ( Section 1)
- Acknowledges the collaborative nature of research (Paragraph 2.6)
- Recognises the fast-paced changes in the research environment (Section 2)
10-month revision process led by ALLEA’s Permanent Working Group on Science and Ethics,
The revision process included an extensive stakeholder consultation at the European level, involving major actors in European research, both public and private, including civil society organisations, private institutions, universities, publishers and the European Commission. Under the lead of Science Europe the FNR chaired working group on research integrity and as active user of the code, the FNR welcomes the revised edition!