Scientific Integrity
Scientific integrity refers to the set of rules and values that must govern research activities to ensure that they are honest, impartial, objective and scientifically rigorous.
The Research Programming Act (LPR) of 2020 entrusted Hcéres (Haut Conseil à l'évaluation de la recherche et de l'enseignement supérieur) with new missions in the area of scientific integrity. Ofis (the French Office for Scientific Integrity) is responsible for implementing these missions.
Defined in the French Research Code (article L. 211-2), scientific integrity is essential to the proper functioning of research communities and the foundation of a relationship of trust between the research community and other parts of society.
The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity 2011 (revised in 2017 and 2023) sets out the common principles of good research practice
Reliability in design, methodology, analysis and use of resources.
Respect for colleagues, research participants, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage and the environment.
Honesty in developing, conducting, evaluating and disseminating research in a transparent, fair, complete and objective manner.
Responsibility for research activities, from idea to publication, their management and organization, for training, supervision and mentoring, and for the broader implications of research.
► Reference texts on scientific integrity: www.ofis-france.fr
Scientific integrity / ethics / research ethics
Scientific integrity, research ethics and deontology are three essential components of responsible research conduct.
Scientific integrity refers to good practice in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge. It guarantees the honest and rigorous nature of research activities.
Ethics refer to a set of obligations specific to the practice of a profession. In France, when a researcher is a civil servant, his or her obligations are set out in the General Civil Service Code.
Research ethics concerns, on the one hand, the major questions raised by certain scientific developments and, on the other hand, more operational issues of compliance of research protocols with the rules of law and ethical recommendations in force.
► To find out more: Scientific integrity, professional ethics, research ethics: what are the differences?
What is a breach of scientific integrity?
Any practice that undermines the reliability of results and the proper functioning of research communities is likely to constitute a breach of scientific integrity. A breach may concern all aspects of research activities in all disciplines.
Here are some examples of breaches that may affect:
- Planning and implementation of the research project: failure to obtain the necessary authorisations (ethical approval, consent of participants); failure to comply with authorised protocols; misuse of research funds.
- Management and practices relating to data of any kind (including bodies of text, archives, images, etc.): falsification or fabrication; deliberately deficient management or archiving; retention without legal justification, omission or selection without scientific justification; problematic statistical processing; unmentioned embellishment.
- Publication, communication and authoring practices: plagiarism; improper signature or failure to acknowledge a contribution; self-plagiarism; non-compliance with AI usage requirements; improper or biased citations; lack of impartiality or transparency when speaking publicly.
- Interactions between peers: biased peer-reviewing, appropriation of research projects or ideas, lack of supervision, undue hindrance of the progress of a peer's work, unfounded accusations of misconduct.
Failure to declare links or conflicts of interest can also constitute misconduct, as can breaches of the laws governing research on humans or animals.
In their most serious forms - this may be the case in particular for fabrication, falsification of data and plagiarism - breaches are liable to disciplinary sanctions.
► To find out more: Ofis factsheets
Gustave Roussy's policy in favour of scientific integrity
- Training and awareness-raising initiatives
- Missions and resources of the scientific integrity referent or the collective structure responsible for dealing with scientific integrity issues
- Events organised throughout the institution
Scientific integrity at Gustave Roussy
Professor Eric Solary (RIS@gustaveroussy.fr) is the Scientific Integrity Officer (RIS) at Gustave Roussy (https://www.ofis-france.fr/annuaire/).
The missions of the RIS are defined by the decree of 27 December 2023 and included in the Research Code. In accordance with this decree, Gustave Roussy's RIS:
- participates in defining the institution's policy in terms of scientific integrity,
- coordinates awareness-raising and training initiatives, and organises measures to prevent and detect breaches of scientific integrity requirements
- receives questions and reports of ‘breaches of scientific integrity’ (defined in a previous chapter), which it investigates impartially and confidentially, including through hearings and investigations, where necessary in conjunction with the scientific integrity officers of the other institutions or foundations concerned;
- guarantees the confidentiality of the procedure for handling alerts, ensures that the adversarial principle is respected and that the procedure is transparent for the persons implicated and for the persons who have issued the alert;
- forwards a report to Gustave Roussy's Chief Executive Officer as soon as possible to enable him to decide on the action to be taken for each report investigated;
- ensures that the data and publications affected by the breach of scientific integrity requirements are reported to the parties concerned;
- informs Gustave Roussy's CEO of any internal systems or practices that do not offer sufficient guarantees in terms of scientific integrity.
