Addressing research integrity challenges: from penalising individual perpetrators to fostering research ecosystem quality care

Hub ZwartEmail author View ORCID ID profile and
Ruud ter Meulen

Life Sciences, Society and Policy201915:5

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-019-0093-6

Received: 4 March 2019
Accepted: 6 May 2019
Published: 10 June 2019

Abstract

Concern for and interest in research integrity has increased significantly during recent decades, both in academic and in policy discourse. Both in terms of diagnostics and in terms of therapy, the tendency in integrity discourse has been to focus on strategies of individualisation (detecting and punishing individual deviance). Other contributions to the integrity debate, however, focus more explicitly on environmental factors, e.g. on the quality and resilience of research ecosystems, on institutional rather than individual responsibilities, and on the quality of the research culture. One example of this is the Bonn PRINTEGER Statement. This editorial to the LSSP thematic series (article collection) entitled Addressing integrity challenges in research: the institutional dimension invites authors to contribute to the research integrity debate. Notably, we are interested in submissions addressing issues such as institutional responsibilities, changes in the research climate, duties of research managers and research performing or research funding organisations (RPOs and RFOs) as well as new approaches to integrity education.