JIC Policy on "Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice"

JIC expects the highest standards of scientific integrity, professional standards and ethical conduct to be observed by the staff, students and visitors who work at the Institute.

JIC is committed to ensuring an honest and open working environment in which an open exchange of scientific ideas is fostered. Those new to the scientific community are supported, mentored and guided in what constitutes good scientific practice. Researchers are encouraged to create an environment of mutual co-operation, in which all members of a research team are supported to develop their skills.

JIC staff, students and visitors are guided by the requirements of the BBSRC Employment Guide, the BBSRC Statement on Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice and the JIC Policy on Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice.

Potential scientific misconduct could involve many aspects of scientific research, including experimental design, generating and analysing data, publishing results, and acknowledging the contributions of others.

JIC requires that researchers keep clear and accurate records of their research and any data generated from the research must be kept securely in paper or electronic form. JIC expects primary data to be held securely for a minimum period of ten years after the completion of a research project.

JIC requires the results of its research programmes to be published in an appropriate form, usually papers in refereed journals. Anyone listed as an author on a paper must be familiar with all the contents and be able to identify their specific contributions. It is also expected that the contributions of all who have been directly involved in the science and financial sponsors are properly acknowledged in the paper. A failure to acknowledge the contributions of others would be regarded as unprofessional conduct.

JIC takes seriously the threat of potential scientific misconduct through piracy of ideas, plagiarism of ideas / data / text or fraudulent use of data. Any allegation would be thoroughly investigated and dealt with in accordance with the BBSRC Employment Guide.