Responsible Research Practices
Responsible Research Practices
Honesty, scrupulousness, transparency, independence and responsibility together form the basis of academic integrity. Ideally, these principles should guide all parties involved in research, including researchers, the institutions where the research is conducted, publishers, funding bodies and so on. Each party involved is expected to foster integrity and, in turn, responsible research practices.
VU Amsterdam is committed to a safe, inclusive, and open working environment. We seek to foster an environment that promotes and ensures good research practices. We do various things to ensure that this happens and have gradually implemented measures to live up to the duties of care that the Code of Conduct sets out. All the measures, conditions and facilities we provide, strive for and implement are intended to benefit academic integrity. On the academic integrity website, you can find information on, amongst other things:
• Complaints procedures and confidential counsellors
• Academic integrity policy and the duties of care
• Research culture and responsible research practices
• Research Data Management, - disclosure and dissemination
• Ethical review of research
Ethical review
In drafting your research proposal, you should take ethical considerations and potential ethical concerns into account. As a researcher you have a moral responsibility to act with respect and care for your research participants and to monitor the impact of your research on society. In other words, it is important for you as a researcher to commit to engaging in ethical reflection.
Because VU Amsterdam subscribes to the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, ethical review committees have been set up. These committees provide our researchers with binding advice on ethical issues that may arise during or as a result of your research (e.g., questionable voluntariness of participation, unclear information provision, risks to the environment, potential conflicts of interest).
Regarding ethical review, it is important to know whether your research falls under the Medical Research Act (WMO, see also the CCMO) and thus needs to be reviewed by the Medical Ethical Review Committee (METc). For non-medical scientific research involving human participants, your faculty will have an ethics committee in place (see the contacts). All researchers are advised to read the National Ethical Code for the Social and Behavioural Sciences (Nethics). Many faculties provide tools and procedures themselves that can help you check your research to identify any potential ethical and integrity issues. Each faculty has its own rules regarding ethical review, so in the event of any questions it is therefore recommended to contact them first.
Knowledge security
Is it legally permitted and desirable to embark on an international collaboration? The VU Amsterdam Knowledge Security Framework will guide you through the necessary VU Amsterdam knowledge security process and six questions, in order to ensure that your international collaboration is legally permitted and (knowledge) secure.
International collaboration, attracting talented academics from all over the world and academic freedom are of tremendous importance to VU Amsterdam. In this context, it is important to focus attention on knowledge security because universities are regularly targeted in order to acquire sensitive knowledge and technologies. Therefore, it is necessary for researchers, who plan to enter a partnership or collaboration, to think about knowledge security, so that it can be ensured that international collaboration can take place safely.
If you express that you intend to work in a research partnership in your proposal, then we advise you in advance to familiarise yourself with the mandatory VU Amsterdam Knowledge Security Framework, which is a useful guide on asking critical questions about the background of a (potential) foreign partner. The framework is based on VU Amsterdam’s core values of academic freedom, the National Knowledge Security Guidelines and academic integrity. Finally, we advise you to check the additional guidelines on collaborative partnerships, and to consult the knowledge security expert in your faculty as early as possible in the process.
Fossil free research
On 20 April 2023, VU Amsterdam’s Executive Board announced it will no longer enter into research collaborations with companies in the fossil fuel industry unless those companies demonstrably commit to the Paris Agreement. Consequently, a Fossil Free Research Framework has been in effect since April 9, 2024.
The Central Committee for Fossil Free Research (CFFR) provides clarification and guidance on what steps are required for intended research collaborations with a fossil fuel company that may fall under the framework.