301092 Research Ethics and Good Scientific Practice (RTG 2951) (S) (SoSe 2026)

Freedom of research and responsibility go hand in hand. Extreme breaches of this responsibility—hair-raisingly unethical experiments, shameless fabrication of data, and extensive plagiarism—receive a fair bit of attention in the media. However, it is not only the spectacular ethical failings, but also the less spectacular and apparently more common cases of scientific misconduct undermine the necessary trust of scientists in each other, as well as society's trust in science (with “science” broadly conceived, including all academic disciplines). For this reason, the German Research Foundation (DFG) has come up with recommendations for the safeguarding of good scientific practice. The workshop is based on these recommendations and will address topics such are:

Local, national and international rules and regulations of good scientific practice
‒ Ethical issues of research design: Are all research question and methods permissible?‒ Handling data (e.g., from surveys): Dos, don’ts, caveats
‒ Handling the work of others: Plagiarism
‒ Publishing and authorship: Predatory publishing, criteria of authorship
‒ The relationship of supervisors and supervisees
‒ Institutional handling of scientific misconduct

After a general introduction to research ethics and good scientific practice, we will work through specific topics of both fields. We will conclude with the question of how to deal with scientific
misconduct. A better understanding of the field of ‘good scientific practice’ will help you avoid unintended
mistakes, to recognise questionable behaviour of others and to deal with it appropriately. It will also improve your research and, since research ethics and good scientific practice are increasingly
enforced by the institutions of science, your chances for research funding.