Inquiries or requests to the German Research Ombudsman can be submitted to the Ombudsman office. All inquiries are forwarded to the Ombudsman committee and are discussed in regular meetings. In allegations of scientific misconduct, appropriate evidence is requested. Inquiries brought before the Ombudsman committee may be related to all kinds of scientific misbehavior. Scientists may describe authorship conflicts, inadequate mentorship and neglect of support of young scientists, research obstruction, abuse of financial support, etc.

The Ombudsman operates according to the principles of confidentiality and impartiality. Without a legal mandate for imposing sanctions, the Ombudsman tries to solve conflicts by mediating between both parties (whistleblower and defendant). Progress towards conflict resolution is aimed at by extensive communication and hearings with both parties. If necessary, local Ombudspersons, external referees or journal editors are consulted.

In Germany, cases of serious fraud are investigated by individual universities and research institutions. Thus, the Ombudsman forwards cases of alleged non-correctable misdemeanors such as plagiarism, data manipulation or data fabrication to the local institutionary commissions that are suited to handling inquiries of scientific misconduct.

Chart Workflow of investigation German Research Ombudsman

Scientists are welcome to contact to the Ombudsman office with questions regarding good scientific practice. Moreover, committee members of the German Research Ombudsman are regularly invited to present their work at research institutions and universities.

Confidential mediation between researchers in cases of conflict

Examination and Clearing-up of cases of suspected scientific misconduct that may have occurred at the University of Hamburg by its current or former members

Ombudspersons work independently, they shall not be subject to instructions, and act as impartial mediators. All current and former members of the University have access to ombudspersons, who provide confidential counsel on all matters relating to good scientific practice and allegations of scientific misconduct.

Following the bylaws of the University of Hamburg, the purpose of the ombuds proceedings is to mediate conflicts in an unbureaucratic and objective manner. They consist of an independent assessment of the conflict, consideration of the arguments brought forward by those involved and/or affected, as well as the internal examination of facts and data relating to the case.

The aim of the ombuds proceedings is to reach a solution satisfactory to both parties in a conflict. The ombudspersons will not initiate any proceedings without information from a person involved in or affected by a case.

Lectures and workshops on GSP, on demand of working groups or institutes of the University.

All workshops and lectures are based on the “Curriculum Good Scientific Practice for Courses in Science and Medicine” (G. Sponholz, 2011)

Target groups are mainly PhD-students, but also Postdocs and staff of working groups or departments.

Starting with only five introductory lectures and presentations in 2014, the demand increased constantly (18 lectures and workshops in 2015, 20 in 2016).

Regular presentation of the Bylaws of the University of Hamburg in each faculty, in academic panels and committees, such as PhD-boards, staff councils, etc.

General Information and detailed elaboration of terms of Good Scientific practice and cases of scientific misconduct at any arising opportunity

Since 2009, members of Team Scientific Integrity conducted more than 1,000 workshops on good scientific practice (GSP) for doctoral candidates, postdocs and senior researchers in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, Italy, Estonia, Sweden, Singapore and Oman with more than 11,000 participants.

Currently, Team Scientific Integrity members conduct about 100 two-day workshops per year at more than forty universities in Germany and abroad, at Leibniz Institutes, Helmholtz Centres, Max Planck Institutes and universities of applied science. The participants of the GSP workshops are predominantly doctoral candidates. The workshops are usually part of a graduate academy programme, a further education curriculum for doctoral candidates, or of a graduate school’s structured programme (e. g. IMPRS, IRTG, GRK). In 2015 Team Scientific Integrity started offering GSP workshops for postdocs and senior researchers.

The length of a regular GSP workshop is between 10 academic hours for participants from non-empirical research fields and 20 hours for participants from experimental sciences. The content of the workshops is based upon the institution’s GSP documents, state and federal
regulations, the German Curriculum for Good Scientific Practice, the ALLEA Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, and the Singapore and Montréal Statements. The workshops cover a wide range of topics:

• Good research practice in the process of science
• Definitions and extent of questionable research practice and scientific misconduct
• Good scientific practice and misconduct in the documentation of the research process and data and sources management and handling
• Good scientific practice and misconduct in the process of publishing
• Authorship and authorship misconduct
• Dealing with questionable practices and misconduct in science
• The role of ombudspersons, whistle-blowers and investigative committees
• The role of mentoring and supervision for the development of scientific integrity
• Competing interests and cooperation in research
• Official local, national and international recommendations, guidelines and regulations
• In 2013 Team Scientific Integrity began training other GSP teachers. Depending on the teachers’ target audiences and the planned teaching content, the trainings last between two and six days with up to three modules. 18 teacher training courses have been completed in Germany so far. The training courses include teaching exercises, case study development, didactic reflection and an in-depth study of rules and regulations.

Team Scientific Integrity members have been advisors for several universities and research organizations concerning the revision and implementation of GSP regulations.

Personal coaching by Team Scientific Integrity members is provided for researchers who seek confidential advice on protecting their scientific integrity.

Based on the “Curriculum ‘Good Scientific Practice’ for Courses in Science and Medicine” which was commissioned by and developed in cooperation with the German Research Ombudsman, and upon the revised and extended version for all academic disciplines, Team
Scientific Integrity develops curricula and teaching materials for presentations, short and long courses and workshops, and trainings on GSP. Supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) and the Austrian Ministry of Science
and Research, both curricula were translated into English.

Research activities mainly focus upon the experience of early career researchers with scientific misconduct and their general knowledge about GSP regulations and procedures. The results are presented on conferences and in scientific journals.

Several of Team Scientific Integrity members are also members of the German University Association of Advanced Graduate Training (GUAT/UniWIND) network for GSP trainers.

EMBO has its own procedures to evaluate allegations of research misconduct by its members, grantees and awardees. Allegations from any source, including from anonymous individuals or administrative officials in institutions, are first considered by the EMBO Director.

Well-founded allegations are evaluated by an ad hoc committee, composed of EMBO Members and assisted by EMBO staff. Not having direct access to data and other information held at researchers’ institutes, EMBO bases its evaluations on the information received in grant and award applications and membership nominations, and publicly available information. When research misconduct is found, possible sanctions by EMBO include withdrawal of funding or support and revoking of awards.

EMBO holds Research Integrity workshops at research institutions in EMBC Member States covering conflicts of interest, ethical practices in human and animal research, scientific publication, emerging policy issues in data management, and mentoring. The workshops are highly interactive and include discussions of scenarios. They are targeted at senior post-docs and early PIs in the life sciences and are held 4 or 5 times per year. As of now, they have taken place in 15 countries with over 400 participants.

To give some examples of their impact, as a result of such workshops, the Curie Institute in Paris instituted compulsory training in research integrity issues for young group leaders; the Institute for Biotechnology, Helsinki, set up a committee to produce a code of conduct for mentorship; and the Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Porto, set up a working group to develop authorship guidelines.

For more information: www.embo.org/policy/research-integrity/workshops-on-research-integrity/

Promoting research quality and scientific integrity are core principles of EMBO, which permeate all its initiatives from the training of the next generation of scientists to communicating research outcomes. The policies and tools developed by EMBO are shared freely and have established new standards and practices for the scientific community.

The practical application of concepts of responsible conduct of research have been a major concern of EMBO since its founding. EMBO was instrumental in driving discussions about societal concerns on recombinant DNA at the 1975 Asilomar meeting, and supported a workshop on DNA restriction and modification in Basel in 1972.

EMBO has been among the sponsors of the World Conferences on Research Integrity since the first event in 2007, and was one of the first funders in Europe to require training in RI (using a programme developed in part by EMBO and other research institutions) as a condition to receive funding in its Fellowship and Young Investigator schemes. To date over 1,200 EMBO awardees have completed this training.

Based on its own Rules of Procedure, the DFG carries out a two-step procedure to ascertain scientific misconduct (https://www.dfg.de/formulare/80_01/).

The two-step process comprises an informal preliminary investigation by the DFG Head Office and a formal process involving the Committee of Inquiry on Allegations of Scientific Misconduct (which consists of eight scientific members).

This Committee presents the results of its investigations and its recommendations to the Joint Committee. Depending on the type and severity of the misconduct ascertained, the Joint Committee can decide to prevent the perpetrator from submitting proposals to the DFG for several years, to rescind a funding decision, or to exclude the perpetrator from participation in DFG statutory bodies.

Individuals can submit incident reports to the DFG Head Office on research misconduct related to DFG-funded research/activities via the usual channels of e-mail, telephone and the postal service. The introduction of the DFG’s electronic Research Integrity Incident Reporting System also facilitates encrypted communication with anonymous and non-anonymous complainants/whistleblowers, thereby supporting efficient case handling.

On a regular basis, the DFG holds workshops for Ombudspersons e.g. on good scientific practice and on mediation and conflict management.