What are the responsibilities of the researchers in this respect?

The managements of academic institutions in particular, but also the heads of individual research units, must implement structures that ensure good academic practice. The new guidelines address this aspect even more clearly than before. As a person in a leading capacity, I have a duty of care. It is my responsibility to educate my staff about good academic practice, ensure that standards are implemented and, for example, introduce doctoral candidates to this area of responsibility. The university offers courses on the fundamentals of good academic practice. Doctoral candidates should be able to discuss different aspects in these courses, because what is right or wrong is not always clear. Every student should take a course on this subject, at the very latest when they start their bachelor thesis.

Is academic misconduct a significant problem?

I think there are different degrees of misconduct. It's rather unusual for someone to falsify or fabricate data, but cases of sloppy documentation of research data or of a data analysis containing errors are certainly more frequent. This is not necessarily misconduct. But there should be an open discussion about it and a critical assessment of how and why the errors occurred.

What else can institutions and researchers do to raise awareness about good academic practice?

On the one hand, it's important to have a good error culture – to deal openly with errors and address them as soon as they are detected. This should always be done within the research units first. In the last instance, there are the ombudspersons. These are experienced researchers who maintain absolute confidentiality in their work. On the other hand, the DFG guidelines call on institutions and heads of research units not to cement power structures because avoiding this helps to prevent abuse. Doctoral candidates and staff are always to some extent dependent on the leaders of their research group, which can make it difficult for them to point out errors. But measures such as a more independent review of doctoral theses or better preparation for leadership tasks can help prevent potential abuse.

The DFG guidelines and the university's regulations also reflect another aspect – namely that academic achievements are assessed more in terms of quality rather than just quantity nowadays. Is the academic culture changing?

For some time now the DFG has placed a greater emphasis on research content, rather than on the number of publications. This is because the pressure to publish as much as possible in order to secure funding was one of the factors that triggered academic misconduct. Nowadays, other criteria apply – such as adherence to the FAIR principles. This is a lever that the university can also use, for example when filling positions. According to the guidelines, commitment to teaching or knowledge transfer can also be considered in evaluations. Many things are still in the early stages but will play an increasingly important role in the future.

Interview: Constanze Böttcher