Good scientific practice is the overall prerequisite for research and teaching. Its goal should be a self-critical attitude towards the obtained scientific results. The exact observance of discipline-specific rules for dealing with sources and data must be consistently adhered to. External and own preliminary work must be completely and correctly accounted for.

Science is based on honesty. This is one of the essential principles of good scientific practice and thus of any scientific work.

Scientific integrity forms the basis of trustworthy science. It is an expression of scientific self-obligation which includes respectful treatment of each other, study participants, animals, cultural assets and the environment, and strengthens and promotes society's indispensable trust in science.

In order to provide orientation, the DFG's Commission on "Self-Regulation in Science" drew up the Memorandum on Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice already back in 1998. According to this document, scientific institutions and faculties are obliged to comply with good scientific practice and to monitor themselves.

The process of reflection and discussion on this topic continued to develop in science and scientific organizations. Hereby, individual facets have been added or have gained new or different significance which were taken into account in the recommendations of the Zur Sicherung guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis / Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice (2013).

In public, "good scientific practice" is often equated with cases of plagiarism in doctoral thesis. However, the topic encompasses a much broader spectrum of scientific behaviour:

• the proper handling of data (including collection, documentation, ownership and retention),
• the publication process and authorship,
• responsible supervision,
• scientific cooperation,
• the disclosure of conflicts of interest,
• the appropriate handling of interpersonal conflicts.
• Scientific misconduct occurs, for example, when data is invented or falsified, intellectual property is violated (theft of ideas or plagiarism) or the research activities of others are sabotaged.

Scientific work at the University of Oldenburg is subject to the Regulations governing the principles for safeguarding good academic practice at the University of Oldenburg issued October 5^th, 2022, which implement the 19 guiding principles and their explanations for safeguarding good scientific practice (Kodex) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

In the case of potential misconduct, this suspicion is investigated according to the regulations governing the principles for safeguarding good academic practice at the University of Oldenburg issued October 5^th, 2022. The responsible points of contact would be the ombudspersons and the Committee for Good Scientific Practice at the University of Oldenburg.