Making researchers responsible: Attributions of responsibility and ambiguous notions of culture in research codes of conduct
Background
Research codes of conduct offer guidance to researchers with respect to which values should be realized in research practices, how these values are to be realized, and what the respective responsibilities of the individual and the institution are in this. However, the question how the division between individual and institutional responsibilities is to be made, has hitherto received little attention. Therefore, we conduct an analysis of research codes of conduct, and investigate how responsibilities are positioned as individual or institutional ones and how the boundary between those two is shaped.
Method
We selected 12 codes of conduct that apply to medical research in the Netherlands, and performed a close-reading content analysis of these codes of conduct. We first identify dominant themes, and then investigate how responsibility is attributed to individuals and institutions.
Results
We observe that in many cases, the attribution of the responsibility to either the individual or the institution is not entirely clear and that the notion of culture appears as a residual category for such attributions. This notion of responsible research cultures is deemed important as something that mediates between the individual and institutional level, but at the same time largely lacks substantiation.
Conclusions
While many attributions of individual and institutional responsibility are clear, the exact boundary between individual and institutional responsibility is often problematic. We suggest two possible avenues for improvement in codes of conduct: either clearly attribute responsibilities to individuals or institutions and depend less less on the notion of culture, or make culture a more explicit concern and articulate what it is and how it could be fostered.
On 07 Jul, 2020
On 25 Jun, 2020
On 25 Jun, 2020
On 11 Jun, 2020
Received 06 Jun, 2020
Received 05 Jun, 2020
On 06 Apr, 2020
On 31 Mar, 2020
On 30 Mar, 2020
Invitations sent on 30 Mar, 2020
On 29 Mar, 2020
On 29 Mar, 2020
Posted 11 Dec, 2019
On 27 Feb, 2020
Received 20 Jan, 2020
On 09 Jan, 2020
Received 08 Jan, 2020
Received 27 Dec, 2019
On 22 Dec, 2019
Invitations sent on 17 Dec, 2019
On 17 Dec, 2019
On 30 Sep, 2019
On 29 Sep, 2019
On 29 Sep, 2019
On 27 Sep, 2019
Making researchers responsible: Attributions of responsibility and ambiguous notions of culture in research codes of conduct
On 07 Jul, 2020
On 25 Jun, 2020
On 25 Jun, 2020
On 11 Jun, 2020
Received 06 Jun, 2020
Received 05 Jun, 2020
On 06 Apr, 2020
On 31 Mar, 2020
On 30 Mar, 2020
Invitations sent on 30 Mar, 2020
On 29 Mar, 2020
On 29 Mar, 2020
Posted 11 Dec, 2019
On 27 Feb, 2020
Received 20 Jan, 2020
On 09 Jan, 2020
Received 08 Jan, 2020
Received 27 Dec, 2019
On 22 Dec, 2019
Invitations sent on 17 Dec, 2019
On 17 Dec, 2019
On 30 Sep, 2019
On 29 Sep, 2019
On 29 Sep, 2019
On 27 Sep, 2019
Background
Research codes of conduct offer guidance to researchers with respect to which values should be realized in research practices, how these values are to be realized, and what the respective responsibilities of the individual and the institution are in this. However, the question how the division between individual and institutional responsibilities is to be made, has hitherto received little attention. Therefore, we conduct an analysis of research codes of conduct, and investigate how responsibilities are positioned as individual or institutional ones and how the boundary between those two is shaped.
Method
We selected 12 codes of conduct that apply to medical research in the Netherlands, and performed a close-reading content analysis of these codes of conduct. We first identify dominant themes, and then investigate how responsibility is attributed to individuals and institutions.
Results
We observe that in many cases, the attribution of the responsibility to either the individual or the institution is not entirely clear and that the notion of culture appears as a residual category for such attributions. This notion of responsible research cultures is deemed important as something that mediates between the individual and institutional level, but at the same time largely lacks substantiation.
Conclusions
While many attributions of individual and institutional responsibility are clear, the exact boundary between individual and institutional responsibility is often problematic. We suggest two possible avenues for improvement in codes of conduct: either clearly attribute responsibilities to individuals or institutions and depend less less on the notion of culture, or make culture a more explicit concern and articulate what it is and how it could be fostered.