Setting up a national office for research integrity: the French experience Olivier Le Gall French Advisory Board for Research Integrity EurASc, Bielefeld DE, 18Oct18
Society changes faster than ever A knowledge-intensive period for Mankind We must increase the reliability of the practices and processes of knowledge build-up and sharing Within research communities (for collaboration) Between research communities (for ambitious co-operation) Between Science & Society (against fake news) Singapore statement 2010: "The value and benefits of research are vitally dependent on the integrity of research" In the digital era Research practices are exposed or even shared Opportunities for an evolution of the tools and practices (open science etc.)
"Savoir" vs "Chercher" Research integrity is the catalyst of Knowledge how can un chercheur be un savant??? Luke Dawson via theinertia.com (*) this image has been manipulated Santa Barbara Historical Society
The havoc of a misconduct
Ethics and Integrity: two pillars of research excellence Science Ethics The big questions raised by the progress of S&T in a changing society Its cultural dimension calls for a perpetual debate "Believe in Science" Committees Research Integrity The rules that govern the practice of research Its universal dimension calls for a shared culture "Believe Science" Senior scientists Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Promoting integrity in research and its publication https://publicationethics.org/
Ethics and Integrity: two pillars of research excellence Science Ethics "Believe in Science" Committees Research Integrity "Believe Science" Senior scientists Deontology French law ("Le Pors Act"), revised in 2016 Rights and duties of the public servant Art. 25: "The public servant carries out its duties with dignity, impartiality, integrity and probity" Lawyers What is "Integrity" in the spirit of the revised Le Pors Act? Ii is not defined specifically It deals with conflicts of interest (Art. 25-2 et 25-3) and accumulation of activities (Art. 25-4 et 25-5) The deontology officer Art. 28: "Every public servant has the right to consult a deontology officer, who is responsible for providing him or her with all useful advice regarding the respect of the obligations and the principles mentioned in Arts 25 to 28."
There is more to integrity than an absence of lack of integrity Biased references Salami-slicing Beautification Undue signatures Statistical misuse Biased sampling Irreproducible methods Data concealment Defective archiving
True fraud is rare Grieneisen & Zhang (2012) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.00441188
True fraud is rare but the size of the grey area is unknown Fanelli (2009) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005738
Retractions have multiple reasons Grieneisen & Zhang (2012) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.00441188
Web of Science April 18 Etymology "to publish"... what if the 1 st misconduct were a collective one?
Research integrity in France A report to the ministry of research: Jean-Pierre Alix, Sep2010 The French Charter for Research Integrity, Jan2015 Deals with integrity + deontology Ratified by institutions (8 35) A network of RI officers (4 81) A new report: Pierre Corvol, Jun2016 Revision of the Le Pors Act, Apr2016 Restricts the perimeter of the Corvol report to research integrity sensu stricto
Research integrity in France A report to the ministry of research: Jean-Pierre Alix, Sep2010 The French Charter for Research Integrity, Jan2015 Deals with integrity + deontology Revision of the Le Pors Act, Apr2016 Restricts the perimeter of the Corvol report to research integrity sensu stricto Following the Corvol report Sep2016: Research Integrity in graduate studies Mar2017: A circular letter from the ministry to all research operators (incl. evaluation and funding agencies) A Vade-mecum to the research communities Creation of OFIS (Office Français de l'intégrité Scientifique)
"Corvol 2016": the proposals Which is done still needs to be done! Proposal To do Started Ongoing Done #01 Nomenclature of misconducts #02 National resources #03 RI training for senior scientists #09 RI in grants #10 Evaluation of labs, univs, etc. #11 Vade-mecum #04 RI in graduate studies #12 Research on RI #05 (similar to #04) #13 Work with the Academies #06 "Bottom-up" training #14 A national reference text #07 Mutualised, open access training tools #15 A virtual library on RI #08 A list of the RI officers #16 Create OFIS
OFIS: principles of action http://www.hceres.fr/ofis To share the culture of research integrity A resource for researchers, teams and institutions OFIS does not Address individual cases OFIS has three missions Advisory board OFIS Team Network Prospective Observatory Coordination
The structure of OFIS An advisory board of 12 A (light) team A department of Hcéres The French agency for HE&R evaluation A web space Under (re)construction Inserm / F/ Guenet
There is more to research integrity than the absence of lack of integrity Biased references Salami-slicing Beautification Undue signatures Falsification Misused stats Biased sampling Data concealment Defective archiving Irreproducible methods