Responsible research practice
UCN was the first of the university colleges to adopt the ‘Danish research integrity code’ which comprises shared standards for responsible research practice in each of the individual phases of the research process:
- Planning and execution
- Data handling
- Publication and dissemination
- Authoring
- Research collaboration
- Conflicts of interest
UCN has elaborated a ‘Policy for responsible research practice at UCN’ as well as ‘Guidelines for dealing with questionable research practice at UCN’ which all UCN staff must observe. Furthermore, UCN regularly hosts organisation-wide courses as well as courses across the Danish university college sector on responsible research practice. The courses are intended for all staff who conduct research at UCN as well as managers, leaders and staff at UCN who are related to research activities in various ways.
The Danish Act on research misconduct
UCN is subject to the Danish Act on research misconduct of April 2017 with any amendments.
The act concerns research misconduct and questionable research practice. Research misconduct cases are heard in the Danish Committee on Research Misconduct after being reported by the research institutions while cases of questionable research practice that are not considered to be research misconduct are processed by the research institutions.
The Danish Act on research misconduct defines research misconduct as:
“fabrication, falsification and plagiarism committed wilfully or grossly negligently in the planning, conducting or reporting of research”
Furthermore, questionable research practice is defined as:
“a violation of generally recognised standards for responsible research practice, including the standards of the Danish research integrity code and other applicable institutional, national and international practices and guidelines for research integrity.”
If you suspect research misconduct
At UCN, the head of research and development is in charge of responsible research practice.
Any suspected or alleged research misconduct or questionable research practice at UCN must be brought before the head of research and development using the e-mail address: forskningspraksis@ucn.dk
UCN Research Ethics Committee
UCN has established a research ethics committee (year 2023). The purpose of the committee is to consider the ethical aspects of research projects led by UCN employees.
The committee considers projects not covered by the Committees Act on regional scientific ethical committees.
Research projects may be presented to the committee through a standardized application form and the evaluation is optional.
The design of a given project is reviewed and evaluated with respect to the current national and international regulations and standards for research integrity and ethics.
UCN's Research Ethics Committee meets four times a year. It has four members, all with research experience and formal research qualifications:
- Uffe Læssøe, Docent
- Daniel Ramskov Jørgensen, Lecturer
- Charlotte Brun Thorup, Assistant Lecturer
- Peter Nørkjær Gade, Senior Associate Lecturer/Docent
Approved projects are registered with the Research Ethics Secretariat, and an identification number is assigned to the project.
Any questions about UCN's Research Ethics Committee and their work may be directed to: forskningsetiskkomite@ucn.dk.