"We need a collective openness in the research culture, and an atmosphere where people are feeling comfortable in rising questions," Professor Melissa Anderson from the University of Minnesota, sharing her findings and presentation with the 300-some audience at the first World Conference on Research Integrity in Lisbon this week.

read more at http://www.alphagalileo.org:80/microsite/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&ItemType=1&itemid=523484&tlo=10468

RTD info has become research eu*. It looks different, it has more pages and its interactivity has been increased. But its ambition is still to be the magazine of the European Research Area and to participate to the democratic debate between science and society by promoting European research and initiatives. You can access it at  http://ec.europa.eu/research/research-eu/index_en.html

A Portuguese European Union Presidency and European Commission Event Initiated and Organized by the European Science Foundation & the US Office of Research Integrity

The European Science Foundation (ESF) and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI) have organized a World Conference on Research Integrity in Lisbon, Portugal which has taken place on 16 to 19 September 2007.

Research Integrity has emerged in recent years as a critical topic in policy research and has gained significant political and public attention worldwide. “Good scientific practice in research and scholarship is essential for the integrity of science at a time when the need to build trust between science and society is becoming ever more important. It is vital that the conduct of science itself is based on the highest ethical considerations.” (European Science Foundation briefing, Good scientific practice in research and scholarship, december 2000).

It is well known that although regulations and standards exist, and all kinds of guides are available everywhere, there is no guarantee that all the golden rules will be implemented ; very often the literature is not read or makes little sense to the brave reader. In a widely published paper “On Being a Scientist”, the authors emphasize that “Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and Ethics are not a complete and finalized body of knowledge, but that ethical issues need to be discussed, explored and debated and that all researchers have a responsibility to move the discussion forward”(On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, Second Edition (1995) http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309051967/html/R1.html copyright 1995, 2000 The National Academy of Sciences )

Information on Integrity in Research and Responsible Conduct of research (RCR) is available on the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) website at http://ori.dhhs.gov/

Read the European Science Foundation guidelines

Download the presentation of the Réflexives seminars

Access the speakers' presentations on the Conference website
http://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/details/confdetail242/conference-information.html

Read the ESF article http://www.esf.org/ext-ceo-news-singleview/article/research-integrity-conference-in-lisbon-tackles-fraud-falsification-plagiarism-329.html

Are researchers ready to address the issue of quality supervision and have supervisors and mentors commit themselves to explicit training programmes or will future researchers be trained by structures and consulting firms OUTSIDE the scientific entreprise?

Read MC Roland's article published in EMBO Reports, August 2007 issue

Read MC Roland's article published in the May issue of EMBO Reports, Vol8: 424-428

The WEEC Conference took place in Durban (South Africa) in july 2007; the Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad (India) will host the next one in november 2007. The issues tackled by ESD are very close to those addressed by Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and research integrity.