Scientific knowledge strives to be reliable. Researchers as well as industry and society build on it. In order to justify this trust, scientific knowledge must be produced according to acknowledged standards and in a transparent manner. Scientific collaboration can only succeed when nobody acts at the expense of others.
Scientific integrity is an attitude that responds to these goals. It manifests itself in daily work as much as in encounters and collaboration and is decisive for the long-term success of science. Some of its integral traits are transparency, fairness, and the ability to take criticism. Successfully practiced integrity is referred to as good scientific practice.
Institutional guidelines can provide orientation and confidence on the topics of integrity and good scientific practice. However, since these are social norms, which naturally keep changing and often do so rapidly in the context of research, guidelines must be continuously reflected and adjusted.
The violation of scientific integrity is usually referred to as scientific misconduct.
The details of ETH Zurich's policy on research integrity as well as all legal aspects of the topic are laid down in the following documents:
Some general guidelines for behavior at ETH Zurich can be found in the Compliance Guide.
Agreements signed by ETH Zurich and recognised ethical standards:
CoARA
The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (external page CoARA) is committed to reforming the methods and processes by which research, researchers, and research organisations are evaluated.
The first sentence of the CoARA principles states: “Comply with ethics and integrity rules and practices, and ensure that ethics and integrity are the highest priority, never compromised by any counter-incentives.”
external page The CoARA Agreement states that the reliability of research and the research process is achieved through adherence to the principles of scientific integrity. ETH Zurich has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and has also joined CoARA.
DORA
The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (external page DORA) is directed against the unduly use of publication metrics in the assessment of scientific work. ETH Zurich has external page signed DORA.
Code of Conduct of the Swiss Academies
Download The Code of Conduct (PDF, 1 MB) defines a common understanding of scientific integrity among Switzerland’s scientific institutions, sets out the responsibilities arising from it, and serves as a basis for institutions to review and further develop their own guidelines.