Good scientific practice
Good scientific practice
FAU believes that storing and managing research data is crucial for successful, sustainable research and scientific integrity. It is essential that research data are handled responsibly and methodically. If the University, its members and the general public are to benefit, this must not only be encouraged but also made a requirement, and it is important to raise awareness of research data and FAIR principles in the long term.
Rules and regulations for ensuring good scientific practice
Through its legal obligations, FAU is responsible for ensuring good scientific practice in research and teaching. FAU has therefore developed regulations based on the recommendations of the German Research Foundation. In spite of the differences between the research disciplines, these guidelines provide guidance on good scientific practice across the board.
Research integrity: Publications, data and ethical standards
Ombudsperson and commission
Ombudsperson and website of the Commission for the Investigation of Scientific Misconduct
For doctoral degrees at FAU
We strongly recommend that the doctoral candidate and their supervisor sign a supervision agreement, and many areas within FAU have accepted this as common practice.
The benefits of signing an agreement such as this are clear. It helps both parties in the supervision relationship clarify their rights, obligations and expectations during a meeting and agree on the details which should apply in each individual case. This helps avoid misunderstandings and forms the basis for a fruitful cooperation.
- Template for supervision agreements including a checklist for the meeting between doctoral candidates and their supervisor. This ensures that the supervision agreement provides structured documentation of the agreements reached during this meeting.
- Supervision agreement for the Faculty of Medicine.
- Supervision agreement for the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology
- We also have a template for doctoral degrees in cooperation with a partner in industry.
According to the Regulations for safeguarding good scientific practice and dealing with scientific misconduct at FAU, individual AND third-party preparatory work must be fully and correctly cited (Section 6). This of course also applies to results, content or figures from the individual’s own preparatory work/publications which are used in doctoral theses. In principle, these should be referenced or cited in just the same way as work from other scientists or scholars in accordance with the standards applicable to the subject in question.
Helpful information about avoiding self-plagiarism can be found in the information sheet from the Graduate Center.
If the commission is informed of any scientific misconduct, it carries out thorough checks in a closed two-phase procedure, firstly with a hearing of the persons involved, and secondly with external reviewers and makes recommendations to the President for how to proceed further in a final report.
The case is closed if the commission cannot find any evidence of scientific misconduct. The President decides how to proceed on the basis of the final report and whether there will be any sanctions for the person/s involved.