Ethics & deontology

At UNIL, the directives of the Direction relating in particular to égrit&e; in research (Directive 4.2) apply to all research activities carried out within the University and to all researchers working there who report administratively to the University's Human Resources department.

1. Guarantee integrity in scientific research. This desire is one of the prerequisites for the credibility of science and a justification for the demand for freedom of researchers.
2. Promote a culture of research that is open to all, and that is open to all researchers.
3. Promote high-quality research: the quality of research must take precedence over quantitative aspects. In principle, more weight should be given to à the originalityé of the problem, à the scope of the conclusions, à the reliabilityé of the basic data and the certainty of the results, as well as the speed with which the results are disseminated and the number of publications.
4. Ensure uniform framework conditions for scientific research at the university.
5. Make researchers aware of the risks of conflicts of interest.
6. Inform about the procedure for reporting suspected breaches of scientific integrity.

In its report Best Practices for Ensuring Scientific Integrity and Preventing Misconduct  published in 2008, the OECD highlights six aspects of misconduct in scientific research :

1. Core misconduct in research: plagiarism of ideas, processes, results or words of others without giving credit, fabrication and falsification. This includes selective exclusion of data from analysis, misinterpretation of data to achieve desired results (including inappropriate use of statistical methods), falsification of images in publications, or production of false data or results under pressure from a sponsor.
2. Data misconduct: failure to preserve primary data, mismanagement or storage of data, or concealment of data from the scientific community.
3. Research practice misconduct: use of inappropriate (harmful or dangerous) research methods, poor research design. Experimental, analytical or computational errors. Violation of protocols relating to human subjects; or mistreatment of laboratory animals.
4. Misconduct related to publication: claiming undeserved paternity. Denying paternity to contributors; artificially cutting up a publication (salami-slicing). Failure to correct the registration of the publication.
5. Inappropriate personal behaviour, harassment. Inappropriate leadership, mentoring, counselling of students. Insensitivity to social or cultural norms.
6. Financial misconduct: abuse of peer review, e.g., non-disclosure of conflict of interest, unfairly delaying publication of a rival. Misrepresentation of credentials or publications. Misuse of research funds for unauthorized purchases or personal gain. Allegations against others of unsubstantiated or malicious misconduct.

According to the report Research Integrity through Open Science and FAIR Data  released in March 2019, the first four categories of misconduct can be addressed through changes in research practices and the implementation of the FAIR principles and Open Science principles (openness, transparency, accessibility, accountability, verification, replicability, etc.).

This link between open science and integrity is a new opportunity to encourage researchers to strengthen their practices in relation to Open Science.

The Swiss Code of Scientific Interest (2021) of the Swiss Academy of Sciences specifies:

a) Implementation of the fundamental principles – 4.5 Data management (p. 20)

• "To ensure that research data are reproducible and/or verifiable (depending on the discipline), reliable and accurate, they must be stored appropriately, in accordance with current regulations. It is the responsibility of institutions and sponsoring bodies to provide appropriate infrastructure for their preservation or to ensure access to such infrastructure.
• Institutions and funding bodies shall communicate their data management requirements, which shall, in line with the end goals for science and open data, substantially comply with the FAIR principles.
• In application of the FAIR principles, scientists shall make research data accessible where no regulations (in particular intellectual property, data protection, contractual bases) stand in the way of publication.
• Where research data or data sources cannot be disclosed or made available, or only after a certain period of time, it must be ensured, where there is no reason to the contrary, that the results of the research are verifiable. Persons authorised to access such data or sources and their institutions shall be responsible for their careful preservation or, where appropriate, their destruction.

b) Violation of scientific interest – 5.2.7 Incorrect management of data and materials

Incorrect scientific behaviour relating to the management of data or materials exists in particular in the following cases:

• omission or incomplete citation of data or data sources (in an adeacute form);
• collection, processing of data of a personal nature without the prior and clear obtaining of consent;
• unauthorised copying, transmission or use of data;
• pseudonymisation/inadequate anonymisation of data;
• violation of disclosure obligations (→ 4.5 Data management) ;
• inappropriate data storage;
• infringement à of the obligation to retain data (→ 4.5 Data management) or materials. Deletion of data and material before the expiry of the prescribed retention period."

Since autumn 2019, research ethics committees at faculty and UNIL level have gradually been set up to assess the ethical aspects of the research projects submitted to them. These committees issue certificates of ethical compliance. They only deal with projects that do not fall within the scope of the HRA (Human Research Act). Researchers at UNIL can submit their projects to the research ethics committees via an electronic platform if they so wish, or if required by the funding or publication authorities.

University of Geneva researchers can submit their projects to the research ethics committees via an electronic platform if they so wish, or if required by the funding or publication authorities.

A central ethical committee

TheCER-UNIL, UNIL's University Research Ethics Committee, oversees the system at central level. It deals with projects that do not require institutional approval. It is called in when the subject of the research includes human subjects that do not fall within the remit of the cantonal research ethics committee (CER-VD) Cantonal Research Ethics Committee (CER-VD)

This commission provides training and support for researchers and étudiants·e·s. The Commission works in collaboration with the new Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en éthique (CIRE)launched by the Direction which is located in the Facultéologie et de sciences des religions.

The Commission also provides training and support for researchers and students.

More information is available on the CER-UNIL website.

Faculty ethics committee

In addition to the central committee (CER-UNIL), the University of Lausanne has seven faculty committees. Each committee decides how it will operate and its composition, and is subject to specific regulations.

To find out about their rules and composition, please consult the pages on the CER-UNIL website.