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IDC Labor, Serum Analyzer, Befüllung mit Testreagenzien
Helmholtz Munich / Matthias Tunger

Good Scientific Practice

Ensuring good scientific practice is a top priority for us. We therefore follow the guidelines of the German Research Foundation and set clear rules for research excellence at Helmholtz Munich. This allows us to achieve our goal of a healthier society even faster. 

Ensuring good scientific practice is a top priority for us. We therefore follow the guidelines of the German Research Foundation and set clear rules for research excellence at Helmholtz Munich. This allows us to achieve our goal of a healthier society even faster. 

FAQs

So-called ombudspersons are the first point of contact for good scientific practice at Helmholtz Munich. They advise employees on all matters of good scientific practice and investigate allegations through discussions with the parties involved.

If there are indications that serious violations of the rules of good scientific practice have occurred, then the suspicion is pursued further by the Commission for Questions Concerning Good Scientific Practice (see §19 of our regulations).

In all other cases, an amicable settlement will be sought. For this purpose, the ombudsperson makes proposals and asks the parties involved to a joint discussion. If an agreement is reached, the ombudsperson will record the result in writing and the proceedings will be terminated. If no agreement can be reached, the Commission for Questions of Good Scientific Practice will be called in.

A common point of dispute is authorship in publications (order of authors, shared first/last authorship, not being considered as an author, controversies about the content of the publication). The ombudspersons examine these issues and try to find a solution that is as amicable as possible and based on the usual rules for publications (e.g. COPE authorship discussion document ). Ideally, ombudspersons are involved at an early stage in order to find a solution before the study is published. 

Our ombudspersons