The Carlsberg Foundation has endorsed the Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.
This means that research supported by the foundation must follow this Code:
Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
The Code aims to ensure credibility, integrity and thereby quality in Danish research through common principles and standards for responsible conduct of research.
The Code is aimed at both public and private research institutions, including universities, the research council system, foundations and enterprises. It is a common framework meant to be implemented and developed across fields of research.
The Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity was drafted by a working group set up by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and the organisation Danish Universities and contains the following key points:
The Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
To ensure and strengthen high-quality research, integrity should pervade all research phases.
- Principles of research integrity
- Honesty – to ensure the trustworthiness of research
- Transparency – to ensure the credibility of scientific reasoning
- Accountability – to ensure the reliability of research
- Responsible conduct of research
Responsible conduct of research requires that everyone involved in the research process follows high standards for conducting research.
1. Research planning and conduct
Research projects should be planned, conducted and documented in a manner that allows the research to be examined and – when relevant – reproduced. Researchers should determine if there are particular issues requiring permits, approvals, etc.
2. Data management
Data and primary materials should be retained, stored and managed in a clear and accurate form that allows the result to be assessed, the procedures to be retraced and – when relevant and applicable –the research to be reproduced. The period for retaining primary material and data should be determined by current practices applicable. However, data should in general be kept for a period of at least five years from the date of publication.
3. Publication and communication
Researchers have a right and an obligation to publish and communicate their results. Research should be published in an honest, transparent, and accurate manner. Researchers should provide readers with all relevant information, e.g. on limitations in the data analysis, role of study sponsor, previous publication, re-use of data and results, etc. Researchers should give appropriate and accurate references to the work of others.
4. Authorship
Attribution of authorship should in general be based on the four criteria in the Danish code:
- substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work, and
- drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and
- final approval of the version to be published, and
- agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged. All authors are responsible for the content of the publication; however, responsibility should be assessed based on an author’s’ individual role in the research project.
5. Collaborative research
All collaborating partners should take responsibility for the integrity of the collaborative research. They should establish agreements on all relevant areas of the research project and specify how responsible conduct of research will be ensured and applied.
6. Conflicts of interests
A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other interests have the potential to compromise or bias professional judgement. All parties involved with the research in question should disclose any conflicts of interest, and assessors of research and research proposals who have a conflict of interest should withdraw from any involvement in the process.
Research integrity, teaching, training and supervision
Sustaining and developing a culture of research integrity is fundamental for research in general and for encouraging adherence to responsible conduct of research. To ensure this proactive and positive approach to research integrity, researchers should engage in research integrity learning and subsequent teaching, training and supervision and be aware of their role as mentors and role models in the endeavor to promote high integrity in research.
Breaches of the responsible conduct of research
Researchers should be aware of their obligation to maintain confidence in research by adequately addressing suspected breaches of responsible conduct of research. It is important for the scientific community’s and the public’s perception of research trustworthiness that reasonable suspicions of breaches of responsible conduct of research are brought forward and dealt with.