Where Ideas Grow

Responsible Research

i3S is committed to upholding Responsible Conduct of Research and of service provision, by providing Research Ethics and Research Integrity training and by implementing clear and useful guidelines in this area.

Research ethics is based on the fundamental ethos of research – truth -- and addresses the questions raised when there are conflicting values or when the basic ethical principles are not respected in scientific practices. It encompasses the design and conduct of research, the respect for human participants or animals within research projects, the use of research results and scientific misconduct. The stakeholders are the i3S researchers, the research ethics committees (CECRI and ORBEA) and the UNIT FOR RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH, as well as funding|sponsoring institutions and publishers.

Research integrity refers to the ethical conduct of researchers, complying with legal and professional rules and standards. Among others, the following regulations and decrees are strictly observed:
Decreto-Lei 80/2018 (revision of Decreto-Lei nr. 97/95); Clinical Research Ethics Committees
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR – EU)
Código Ético de Conduta Académica da UPorto
i3S Authorship Guidelines

One of the most important documents in the field of research integrity is The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (EcoC) published by ALLEA, which is the object of reflection and discussion in the training sessions and promoted as an essential guide for research practice at i3S.

Public trust in science and the quality of scientific research are clearly based on Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research. To foster this commitment, i3S has set up a transversal Unit for Responsible Conduct in Research(URCR) that supports the researchers and works alongside the Committee for Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Research (CECRI) and the Animal Welfare and Ethics review Body (ORBEA).