Scientific integrity

Scientific integrity, research ethics, and professional conduct are three essential components of responsible research behavior. 

• Scientific integrity refers to good practices in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge. It guarantees the honesty and rigor of research activities.
• Ethics refers to a set of obligations specific to the practice of a profession. In France, when a researcher is a public servant, his or her obligations are set out in the General Civil Service Code.
• Research ethics concerns, on the one hand, the major issues raised by certain scientific developments and, on the other hand, more operational issues relating to the compliance of research protocols with the rules of law and ethical recommendations in force.

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What is scientific integrity? 

In France, scientific integrity is defined in the Research Code (Article L. 211-2) as the set of rules and values that must govern research activities in order to guarantee their honesty and rigor. Essential to the proper functioning of scientific communities, scientific integrity is also the foundation of a relationship of trust between the world of research and other components of society. Beyond the specificities of individual disciplines, good research practices are based on common principles, as set out in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: 

• Reliability in design, methodology, analysis, and resource utilization.
• Respect for colleagues, research participants, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage, and the environment.
• Honesty in the design, conduct, evaluation, and dissemination of research, in a transparent, fair, comprehensive, and objective manner.
• Responsibility for research activities, from conception to publication, their management and organization, for training, supervision, and mentoring, and for the broader implications of research.

What is a breach of scientific integrity?

Any practice that undermines the reliability of results and the proper functioning of research communities is likely to constitute a breach of scientific integrity. A breach can affect all aspects of research activities in all disciplines, whether public or private. Some examples of breaches that may affect: 

• Planning and implementation of the research project: failure to obtain the necessary authorizations (ethical approval, participant consent); failure to comply with authorized protocols; misuse of research funds.
• Management and practices relating to data of any kind (including text corpora, archives, images, etc.): falsification or fabrication; deliberately deficient management or archiving; retention that is not legally justified, omission or selection that is not scientifically justified; problematic statistical processing; unmentioned embellishment.
• Practices relating to publication, communication, and authorship: plagiarism; misuse of signatures or failure to acknowledge contributions; self-plagiarism; non-compliance with AI usage requirements; misuse or bias in citations; lack of impartiality or transparency in public statements.
• Interactions between peers: biased peer review, appropriation of research projects or ideas, lack of supervision, undue obstruction of a peer's work, unfounded accusations of misconduct.

Failure to declare links or conflicts of interest may also constitute misconduct, as may violation of laws governing research involving humans or animals. In their most serious forms—which may include fabrication, falsification of data, and plagiarism (FFP)—misconduct is punishable by disciplinary sanctions.

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Who should I contact?

• Scientific integrity: for any advice or to report a possible breach of scientific integrity, you can contact the institution's Scientific Integrity Officer (SIO): Jean-Christophe BATSALE
• Ethics: for any advice or support, you can contact the ethics officer: Sébastien GARCIA
• Ethics: Information about the Research Ethics Committee is available on the dedicated page. Contacts: bureau.cer@ensam.eu and dpo@ensam.eu