At the Technical Faculty of IT and Design, good scientific practice is defined as compliance with the Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which means following the principles of research integrity and the standards of responsible research practice.

The code is based on three overarching principles of research integrity:

• Honesty, to ensure the trustworthiness of research
• Transparency, to ensure the credibility of scientific reasoning
• Accountability, to ensure the reliability of research

The code also lists six basic standards for responsible research practice:

• Research planning and execution
• Data management
• Publication and dissemination
• Authorship
• Collaborative research
• Conflicts of interest

In the Act on the Research Advisory System, ‘scientific dishonesty’ (i.e. research misconduct) is defined as: “Falsification, fabrication, plagiarism and other serious violations of good scientific practice committed intentionally or due to gross negligence during the planning, implementation or reporting of research results.” The Act on Research Misconduct enumerates a number of examples of what this definition includes and notes that the concept does not include questions concerning the quality or validity of scientific works.

At AAU, cases of breaches of good scientific practice are reviewed by the AAU Practice Committee which initially assesses whether the matter may be handled by AAU or be referred to the Danish Committee on Research Misconduct.

Academic Council guidelines on promoting good scientific practice

Other relevant links

• Vancouver Declaration
• Guidelines for students

Guidelines (valid from 1/7/2017) can be found on the AAU Practice Committee website:
https://www.en.update.aau.dk/committees-councils/practice-committee-aau

Guidelines for students can be found at:
https://www.en.aau.dk/education/student-guidance/rules/cheating-plagiarism

DECLARATION
For the submission of PhD theses and higher doctoral dissertations, a signed declaration of compliance with good scientific practice must be sent to the Doctoral School:

• Download: Mandatory declaration of compliance with good scientific practice (PhD)
• Download: Mandatory declaration of compliance with good scientific practice (doctorate)