Can an Authentic Interest for Research Integrity be

Fostered?From a Government Driven

Promotion to a Voluntary Self-education and Consensus Forming on the Internet

Wha-Chul Son, Ph.DCenter for Good Research Practice

Handong Global University

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Topics

• Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity

• Research Ethics by Researchers• Importance of Education and

Research Culture• The Case of On-line Portal Site for

Research Integrity: “Good Research”• Evaluation

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Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity 1

• Governments tend to precede researchers in promoting research integrity, because of

- its official responsibility - institutional need and stability - its ability to systemize (anything) - researchers’ indifference

Post Hwang(Dec.2005) Syndrome

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Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity 2

• While it is inevitable to a certain extent, government’s effort has its own limit because

- researchers feel to be treated as potential criminal

- it often consists of short-term projects - its actual outcome could be superficial - it could cause conflicts with the

autonomy of researchers

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Internalization of Research Ethics 1

• It is natural that researchers themselves should be the main actor in promoting research integrity, because

- RCR is about what they do. - it is vital to protect their autonomy in

research and to sustain their authority as experts.

• Research ethics should be internalized, not imposed.

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Internalization of Research Ethics 2

• However, it is difficult for researchers to commit their time and energy for promoting research integrity, because of

- priority problem - little incentives - professionally, intellectually - lack of relevant knowledge

What They Do and Don’t

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Ethical Research Culture and the Importance of Education

• It is vital to establish an ethical research culture in which RCR is internalized.

• Not just against research misconduct, but promoting “good research”

• Not by government’s pressure, but by researchers’ voluntary involvement in consensus making procedure concerning relevant issues

• The importance of educating next generation researchers

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On-line Researcher’s Community좋은연구 (Good Research)

• Not just information achieve, but interactive portal site

• Reflecting Korean on-line culture

(Internet Statistics Report 2008)

- 76.5% of population(+3) using the Internet

- 50% of users(+6) active in on-line community and 43% having personal blogs.

- 98.5% of users(+6) visiting portal sites

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www.grp.or.kr

• Project Launched in Dec. 2007

• Portal Site Opened on June 30th, 2008

• Five Project Members, 7 staffs

• Government Funded• Current Review (July 08 ~ April 09, 10 months)

- Members: 532

- Total visitors: 22,682

- Total page-views: 200,651

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Animation

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Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics

• Visitors per day

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Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics

• Page-views per day

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Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics

• Academic Information – 339 articles archived

• Community and on-line Cafe – 385 messages written

• Other Information (news, notice, bulleting boards) – 234 items listed

• Various search methods, on-line polls, information gathering function

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Potentials

• Dependent on government funding (which is inevitable), but relatively free of any form of control

• Improving technical features, archiving more information, and developing various events and activities

• Increasing visitors and writers• Potential ‘space’ where researchers can

have meaningful dialogue concerning research, research ethics, and good research

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Challenges

• How to attract researchers to stay longer

• How far to expand the service - on-line counseling system• Future prospect - Can this be really independent? - example of membership system

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Conclusion

• There is a clear limit in government driven promotion of research integrity.

• Ethical research culture and education toward such a culture is vital.

• On-line portal site for archiving relevant information and for researchers’ interaction could promote voluntary interest for research integrity.

• There are several huddles to overcome and various tryouts are being made.

Thank You!