Integrity & ethics

All employees involved in teaching and research bear personal responsibility for promoting and safeguarding scientific integrity. General principles and rules for professional academic conduct should be observed at all times. 
 
Read more about scientific integrity here 

Research ethics is concerned with protecting human participants in scientific research projects. Informed consent by these participants is a cornerstone of the ethical acceptability of research. 

Research ethics covers the whole research cycle: 

• Design of the research project 
• Data collection 
• Safe storage of any resulting personally identifiable information 

The regulations and guidelines for research ethics vary between disciplines. In biomedical research, the Medical Research Involving Human Participants Act (WMO) regulates research in which participants are subjected to a procedure or certain rules of behaviour. They do not regulate research in which data is only collected from patient files. 

Research in social and behavioural sciences involving human participants not covered by the Medical Research Involving Human Participants Act follows the guidelines of The Code of Ethics for Social and Behavioural Science. It sets guidelines for ethical research in these disciplines, based on the following principles: 

• Respect for the dignity of participants. 
• Treating participants and their communities with care. 
• Avoiding exploitation and minimising harm to participants. 
• Balancing research costs with potential benefits such as new relevant insights. 
• Reflecting on, assessing and monitoring ethical issues arising in connection with research.