FCK3310 Research Integrity 2.0 credits

The course consists of lectures given by the course leader and presentations of cases of research misconduct given by the students, with the presentations running in parallell with the lectures. Each student has to take part in the presentation of a case, prepared in groups of 3–5 persons.

The course will run on two occasions, each time during two days, in April or May (April 24 and 25, and May 28 and 30), from 10:00 to ca 15, with a break for lunch. This outline of the course means that the presentations of cases need to be prepared before the start of the course; to provide enough time for the preparations, the applications for the course need to be made already before March 27 and May 1, respectively, for the two courses.

The course will allow ample time for discussion, not only about scientific misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, FFP), but also about questionable research practices (QRP).

The number of participants is limited to 20. 

The dates are:

Wednesday April 24, 1000-ca 12 and 13-ca 15

Thursday April 25, 1000-ca 12 and 13-ca 15

and

Tuesday May 28, 1000-ca 12 and 13-ca 15

Tuesday May 30, 1000-ca 12 and 13-ca 15

The lectures will be held in the Erdtman lecture room, Teknikringen 30, floor 7. To register, send an e-mail with your Name, Division, and Department to Christina Moberg, email kimo@kth.se, before 3 March 27/May 1. Please indicate to which course you would like to register, and also whether you may have the possibility to take the course on the alternative occasion.

Supervisors are welcome to attend and to participate in the discussions

Lectures and group assignments illustrate the following questions:

• What is meant by misconduct in research?
• Why is ethical behavior in research important?
• Which is the responsibility of the scientist?
• Misconduct in research - Why, where and when?
• How common is misconduct, and which types of misconduct are most common?
• Self-regulating mechanisms: Peer review and Reproducibility – is that enough?
• How to deal with and how to report observed misconduct?
• How to correct incorrectly reported results?

After completion of the course the doctoral student should have the knowledge and ability to

• assess what is meant by good research practice in different situations
• plan and carry out research, and report research results in a way that meets the requirements of good research practice
• counteract and, if necessary, report other reseearcher’s deviations from good research practice
• contribute to keeping discussions about integrity of research alive in the research environment.

Eligible for studies at the third-cycle level.

PP slides shown during the lectures and handed-out material.

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

• DEL1 - Participation, 2.0 credits, grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Attendance at all course occasions, participation in discussions and presentation of group work performed in groups

Active participation in all parts of the course

Christina Moberg

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Please note that this course replaces the course Research Ethics, KA3030. The content of the course has not changed, the difference is just the name (and course number) and the structure of the course: instead of 4 h of lectures followed by 4 h of presentations of case studies by groups of students, the presentations will be given in connection to the lectures. This change requires that registration for the course in made about two weeks before the start of the course. In case you have the course KA3030 in your individual study plan, you thus need to change the course name and number.