Engineering sciences

Related guidelines:

Scientific integrity forms the basis for trustworthy research. It is an example of academic voluntary commitment that encompasses a respectful attitude towards peers, research participants, animals, cultural assets, and the environment, and strengthens and promotes vital public trust in research.

The constitutionally guaranteed freedom of research is inseparably linked to a corresponding responsibility. Taking this responsibility into full account and embedding it in individual conduct is an essential duty for every researcher and for the institutions where research is carried out. The research community itself ensures good practice through fair and honest attitudes and conduct as well as organisational and procedural regulations. In different roles, scientific and scholarly societies, research journals, publishers, research funding agencies, complainants, ombudspersons and the Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany’ (OWID) also contribute to safeguarding good research practice; they harmonise their conduct in publicly or privately funded research with the principles of the Code.

Individuals who report a well-founded suspicion of misconduct fulfil a crucial function in the self-regulation of the research community. Scientific and aca- demic societies promote good research practice by developing a shared un- derstanding among their members and by defining binding ethical standards, which they establish within their specialist communities. Journal publishers take account of the requirements of high-quality research with a stringent peer-review process. The Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany’ (OWID), an independent body, and local ombudspersons are trustworthy points of contact that offer advice and conflict mediation on issues relating to good research practice and potential misconduct. Funding organisations also play an important role in establishing and main- taining standards of good research practice. Through the design of their fund- ing programmes, they create a framework that promotes research integrity. By ensuring that procedures are in place to deal with allegations of misconduct, they also help to combat dishonesty in research.

Within the scope of its responsibility, the DFG has prepared the following Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. They represent the consensus among the member organisations of the DFG on the fundamental principles and standards of good practice and are upheld by these organisa- tions. These guidelines underline the importance of integrity in the everyday practice of research and provide researchers with a reliable reference with which to embed good research practice as an established and binding aspect of their work.

Research in the field of engineering sciences usually focuses on complex technical systems and applications involving various interacting mechanisms. A wide range of theoretical, numerical and experimental methods are often used to investigate these.

Beyond the central core of basic research, another key element is the technical implementation of findings as well as their potential commercial application at a later stage. This results in a close examination of the protection of intellectual property, the idea or the invention, for example. For this reason, patents have a particular role to play here, alongside publications.

The engineering sciences typically deal with complex systems whose investigation requires a variety of methods, which in turn involves a high degree of disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration. This is usually demand-driven, both within the engineering sciences as well as in close connection with the natural sciences in particular.

Quality assurance is a key issue in almost all areas of engineering sciences, since it is precisely the reliable reproducibility of results and the mastery of processes and procedures that are the prerequisite for technical innovations and their successful application at a later stage.

Engineering sciences

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Engineering sciences

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