Research integrity in scientific professions

Since the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity in 2010, the international scientific community has been mobilizing to ensure that the methodological and ethical requirements of research are more clearly stated, in a context where the race for novelty and the introduction of a reinforced competitive logic increase the risks of scientific misconducts. In addition, regulatory strengthening and social responsibility issues require knowledge of fundamental principles of research integrity.

The various research organisations in France have multiplied their initiatives and their convergence has led to the signature of the "charte de déontologie des métiers de la recherche" (Charter of Ethics in Research Professions) by France Universités (Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education and Research) and the main research bodies in January 2015. Following the report submitted by Pr. Pierre Corvol in 2016, « Bilan et propositions de mise en œuvre de la charte nationale d’intégrité scientifique » (Assessment and proposals for the implementation of this charter), several decisions were taken, notably:

• doctoral schools must ensure that doctoral students benefit from training in ethics and research integrity,
• institutions have appointed a delegate to research integrity ("référent intégrité scientifique"),
• a French Office for Scientific Integrity (OFIS) was installed in 2017 within the High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (Hcéres).

This mobilization was reinforced at the end of 2021 by the publication of a legislative decree relating to compliance with the requirements of scientific integrity by public establishments and foundations contributing to the public research service. This text introduces into the French law a definition of scientific integrity and the obligation for establishments to ensure the awareness and training of their employees as well as of their students to the requirements of scientific integrity.

Committed to this issue since 2012 with the adoption of a charter of ethic, the University of Bordeaux has developed this course on research integrity, in partnership with France Universités and the main French research bodies (COMETS-CNRS, INSERM and INRAe). With the support of the IdEx and the “Collège des écoles doctorales” of the university of Bordeaux, this course was designed with the involvement of the service in charge of Teaching and innovation support (MAPI) of the university.

This training has been attended by PhD students from the University of Bordeaux since 2017 and by those of several other higher education and research institutions since 2018. It was introduced as a MOOC on FUN from November 2018. Nearly 10,000 learners register for training each year and more than 17,000 successfully obtained a follow-up certificate between November 2018 and July 2022. Among the very many learners who responded to the training evaluation questionnaire, a very large majority consider it useful and believe they have acquired new knowledge.