Research

Research is the quest for knowledge obtained through systematic study, thinking, observation, and experimentation. While different disciplines may use different approaches, they each share the motivation to increase our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. Therefore, “The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity” applies to research in all scientific and scholarly fields. Research is a common enterprise, carried out by many different actors in academic, industry, and other settings. It involves collaboration, direct or indirect, which often transcends social, political, and cultural boundaries. It is underpinned by the freedom to define research questions and develop theories, gather empirical evidence, and employ appropriate methods in an impartial way. Therefore, research draws on the work of the community of researchers and should develop independently of pressure from commissioning parties and from ideological, economic, or political interests. Research integrity is crucial to preserving the trustworthiness of the research system and its results. It encompasses the basic responsibility of the research community to formulate the principles of research, to define the criteria for proper research behaviour, to maximise the quality, reliability, and robustness of research and its results, and to respond adequately to threats to, or violations of, good research practices. Research results in this context include, but are not limited to, publications, data, metadata, protocols, code, software, images, artefacts, and other research materials and methods. The primary purpose of this European Code of Conduct is to help realise this responsibility and to serve the research community as a framework for self-regulation. The research community encompasses a broad range of stakeholders including individual researchers, research teams, and research support staff. It also includes the institutions and organisations that enable research, such as research performing organisations, research funders, academies, learned societies, editors and publishers, and other relevant bodies. The European Code of Conduct describes professional, legal, societal, ethical, and moral responsibilities of the different actors in different settings, including those who define and implement the priorities and criteria for research funding, assessment, and publication. It acknowledges the role of institutions and organisations in facilitating good research practices through appropriate policies, processes, resources, and infrastructure. Interpretation of the values and principles that regulate research may be affected by social, political, or technological developments and by changes in the research environment. Such changes since the 2017 edition of the European Code of Conduct include the development and application of technologies in research in new ways, and the use and impact of social media to share and disseminate research results. The 2023 edition also takes account of changes in data management practices, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and recent developments in Open Science and research assessment. The 2023 edition of the European Code of Conduct also reflects a new awareness of the importance of research culture in enabling research integrity and implementing good research practices. An effective European Code of Conduct for the research community promotes an ethical mindset. Its principles are relevant across the research system and in all disciplines and are applicable to publicly funded and private research. It can be the basis for local, national, and disciplinespecific policies and guidelines, and applies to existing and new research practices such as citizen science or participatory research. Each stakeholder within the research community needs to take active responsibility for observing and promoting these practices and the principles that underpin them.

Good research practices are based on fundamental principles of research integrity. They guide individuals, institutions, and organisations in their work as well as in their engagement with the practical, ethical, and intellectual challenges inherent in research.

These principles include:

• 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 organisation, for training, supervision, and mentoring, and for its wider societal impacts.