Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

The aim of the Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity is to support knowledge about, acceptance and entrenchment of research integrity in the Estonian research community. The Code of Conduct for Research Integrity describes the conduct expected from researchers and the responsibility of research institutions in ensuring research integrity, thus contributing to the increase of credibility of research in the eyes of the individual and the public.

The Code of Conduct for Research Integrity is meant to complement the Code of Ethics of Estonian Scientists adopted in 2002. The new document is needed because the development of research has brought forth new themes and perspectives not reflected in the code of ethics, and added new points for consideration. The current document also places greater emphasis on the activities of research institutions, separately pointing out the responsibility of researchers and research institutions, which helps to emphasise that responsibility for ethical research lies with everyone who is active in research. Researchers alone cannot ensure research integrity. So that researchers could behave ethically, the necessary conditions have to be created at the level of the organisation and the system.

The Code of Conduct for Research Integrity has been created as a framework document which provides guidelines to all Estonian research institutions and the researchers working there. The task of the research institution is to elaborate detailed procedural rules which help to increase awareness in the organisation about the principles of research integrity, to monitor the research environment and, if necessary, to interfere and to deal with the cases of misconduct. To ensure as equal treatment of members of different research institutions as possible, research institutions cooperate closely in drafting procedural rules and regulations.

The creation of the document of research integrity was initiated by the Estonian Research Council early in 2016 by forming a work group that included representatives from the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Estonian Research Council. The Estonian Research Council entrusted the drafting of the text to the Centre for Ethics at University of Tartu, which had earlier already started writing the research integrity document for the University of Tartu; therefore, the two initiatives were united.

The document of research integrity consists of the list of main values of research integrity and principles of action. The chapter on principles of action is divided according to stages of research: planning of research, conduct of research, publishing and application of research results and participation in the research community.

The most essential values of research integrity are freedom, responsibility, honesty and objectivity, respect and caring, justice, openness and cooperation. It should be kept in mind that none of these values is absolute – they may come into conflict between one another and, depending on the situation, researchers have to choose which of the conflicting values are more essential in the particular situation. After moral considerations, balance should be found between different values. By setting one of the conflicting values higher in the hierarchy, the protection of the less important value should still be ensured.

1. Freedom means that the researcher

• is free to choose the research problem or hypothesis;
• is free to search for new research ideas and critically assess the existing ones;
• is free to choose the research group, research institution or sources of financing.

2. Responsibility means that the researcher

• is responsible for the results and consequences of the research and is aware that his/her work and decisions can influence other people and future generations;
• avoids harming people, society and nature, and informs the public about potential threats;
• follows all the pertinent rules in research and, in the absence of precise rules, follows the good practice of research;
• is aware that his/her conduct serves as a model for the present and future generations of researchers.

3. Honesty and objectivity mean that the researcher

• is honest, precise and impartial in all aspects of research activities;
• does not forge or fabricate data and does not plagiarise;
• interprets both data and research results objectively, not arbitrarily;
• acknowledges his/her errors and, if necessary, reassesses his/her earlier work in the light of new research results.

4. Respect and caring mean that the researcher

• shows respect to his/her teachers, students, colleagues and cooperation partners and avoids causing unsubstantiated harm to their interests.
• respects the dignity, autonomy and privacy of persons involved in research;
• is caring to experiment animals, avoids unsubstantiated harm to them and ensures their wellbeing;
• respects life and maintains a careful attitude to the environment, biosphere and biodiversity..
• honours cultural diversity and maintains a careful attitude to the material and spiritual heritage of humankind.

5. Justice means that the researcher

• treats all colleagues and cooperation partners equally; while acknowledging colleagues, the researcher considers their actual contribution to research;
• in his/her judgements concerning research, is not influenced by the other person’s gender, age, nationality, race, religion, school, status or other features that are not relevant to the judgement;
• is aware of the possible conflicts of interests and gives timely notice of them;
• uses the available resources efficiently, sparingly and purposefully;
• takes care that the distribution of resources is transparent and everyone has equal opportunities to apply for them.

6. Openness and cooperation mean that the researcher

• is open to cooperation with partners;
• takes care for the good creative work environment;
• strives for transparency in research and shares information about the aims, financing and methods of his/her research, and about the course of analysis.
• is open to share ideas, data and research results with others;
• assesses critically his/her own and others’ research and is open to substantiated criticism;

The principles of research integrity concentrate on what researchers or research institutions should do to follow the values of research integrity. At the same time, it should be remembered that the activities of individual researchers and research institutions are influenced by many other institutions (e.g. financers and assessors) and the environment where they operate. Researchers can do research in research groups with many partners from home and abroad who can have different objectives and interests. In research groups, each of their members is responsible for following research integrity. Although the leader of the research group may have greater responsibility for the conduct and coordination of research, this does not diminish the responsibility of other group members.

Research integrity contains principles of different concreteness or generality by which conduct of research should be guided. The more concretely formulated principles are those about which there is greater unanimity among the research community or which are derived from valid laws and international agreements. In the case of more generally worded principles, the researcher and the research institution have more freedom to decide how to best achieve the formulated ideal. It should also be considered that actual life is often more complex and diverse than a document that envisages ideals can describe. In the case of conflicts between principles and novel situations not covered by the research integrity document, researchers and research institutions have leeway to make the best possible choice in a complicated situation.

The principles of research integrity give instructions how to make choices in research so that they would not harm the reliability of the researcher, the research institution or research as a whole. In such situations, it may be difficult to give a clear and unambiguous assessment of the ethicality of actions and choices. It is essential that all choices would be well-weighed, substantiated and based on the values of research integrity.