Research Guidelines
CETEM expects its researchers to adhere to higher standards of integrity. In order to facilitate this, we have formulated a document of research guidelines that ensures best research practices for the researchers. CETEM covers a wide range of research areas including; business and management, engineering, social, environmental and management sciences, health and safety, food security, culture, economics and finance, education, transportation, medical science and ethics, etc. These guidelines are designed to apply to all kinds of research that shall be published via the CETEM platform.
Institutions, schools, universities, organizations, and individual researchers are expected to have in place their own publish standards of good research practices. In addition, it is a condition of CETEM that its partner research organization have in place formal written procedures for investigation of allegation of research misconduct. CETEM has also drawn a statement on the Handling of Allegation of Research Misconduct, which should be read in conjugation with these research guidelines.
- Introduction
- Integrity
- Openness
- Guidance from Professional Bodies
- Leadership and corporation
- Supervision
- Training
- Primary Data/ Samples
- Ethical Practice
- Publication Practice
CETEM cannot be prescriptive about individual approaches taken up by researchers in order to solve specific research problems. But we expect organizations to ensure that an adequate structure for promotion and promulgation of best research practices exists. This would intern emphasize on integrity and rigor in research and will create a culture in which the following general principles can be understood and observed.
Researchers should be honest in respect to their own actions in research and the responses to theses action and that of other researchers. This applies to a wide range of research work, including experimental designing, generation and analysis of data, application for funds, publication of results, and acknowledgement of direct and indirect contributors such as; collogues, collaborators, and others worthy of recognition.
While recognizing the need for scientist to protect their own research interests, the CETEM expects its researchers to be as open as possible in discussing their work with other scientists and with the public in order to help foster an informed public climate within which these research areas can flourish.
Once the results have been published, CETEM expects its researchers to make available relevant data and materials to other researcher, on request, provided that this is consistent with any ethics approvals and consents that cover the data and its materials and any intellectual property rights associated with them. CETEM recognizes that publications of the results of its researches may need to be delayed for a reasonable period pending protection of the intellectual property arising from the researches. Any such periods of delay in publication should, however, be kept to a minimum.
Where available, CETEM expects, researchers to observe the standards published in the research guideline documents for the best research practices by scientific and learned societies, and other relevant professional bodies.
All researchers should be aware of the legal requirement that regulate their work.
Heads of the organizations and their representatives should ensure that a research culture of mutual corporation is created in which all members of a research team are encouraged to develop their skills in which there is an open exchange of ideas and innovation is fostered.
Organization should ensure that they provide an appropriate direction to its researchers for research and for their supervision. The training in supervisory skills should also be provided where appropriate.
A code of responsibilities should be available for supervisors indicating, for example, the frequency of contact, responsivities regarding scrutiny of primary data, and the broader development needs of the research trainees or young researchers.
An emphases on the fact that supervisors should supervise all stages of research process, including outlining or drawing up a hypothesis, preparing the application for funds generation, protocol design, data recording and data analysis, should be made.
Organization should have in place a group of systems that allow its student and the new researchers to understand and adopt best practices as quickly as possible.
All researchers should undertake appropriate training, for instance, in research designing, regulatory and ethics approvals and consents, equipment use, confidentiality, data management, record keeping and data protection.
There should be clarity at the outset of the research program as to the ownership of, where relevant:
a. Data and samples used or created in the course of the research
b. The results of the research
Researchers should keep clear and accurate records of the procedures followed and the approvals granted during the research process, including records, of the interim results obtained as well as of the final research outcome.
This is necessity not only as a means of demonstrating proper research practice, but also in case questions are subsequently asked about either the conduct of the research or the results obtained.
Data generated in the course of research should be kept securely on paper or electronic format as appropriate.
CETEM considers a minimum of ten years to be an appropriate period besides the research based on samples, the relevancy of which is not for a limited period of time or data related to public health which might require longer storage to allow for a long-term follow-up to occur or the research based on clinical samples.
Backup records should always be kept for data stored on a computer.
Organizations should have guidelines setting out responsibilities and procedures for the storage and disposal of data and samples (including compliance with the requirements of any ethics committee or published guidelines).
9.1. Research involving human participants
Approval is required from an appropriate ethics committee. All CETEM research involving human participants or biological samples. Approvals should also be sort from other regulatory bodies. For instance the Human Fertilization and Embryollogy Authority or the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee in the UK, etc., where necessary.
Researchers should ensure the confidentiality of personal information relating to the participants in research, and the research fulfils any legal requirements for instance those of the data protection act 1998, etc.
9.2. Research involving human participants
Research involving animals should have approval through the appropriate ethical review process, and may require Home Office Licenses for the Organization the investigators and the project.
Researchers should consider, at an early stage in the design of any research involving animals, the opportunities for reduction, replacement and refinement of animal insolvent (3 Rs).
9.3. Research involving human participants
In progressing in their scientific investigations, researchers should actively consider any risks that their research will generate outcomes that could be misuse for harmful purposes. Where such risks exist they should seek advice and take active steps to minimize them.
Organizations should have in place mechanisms to ensure that the risks of misuse associated with ongoing research programs or identified and managed, and to provide advice to the researchers that they employee on these issues.
Results should be published in an appropriate form, usually as papers in referred journals. Anyone listed as an author on a paper should accept the responsibility for insuring that he/she is familiar with the contents of the paper and can identify his/her contribution to it. The practice of honorary authorship is unacceptable.
The contribution of formal collaborators and all others who directly assist or indirectly support the research should be properly acknowledged. An example of good publication practice can be found in the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines Good Publication Practice.
Note: this document was updated in November 2016 and is continuously improved and updated over time. All rights reserved Centre of Excellence in Technology and Engineering Management. For any suggestions write to us.