Präambel

Grundsatz 1      Allgemeine Prinzipien der wissenschaftlichen Praxis

Grundsatz 2      Fehlverhalten in der Wissenschaft

Grundsatz 3     Mitverantwortung für Fehlverhalten

Grundsatz 4     Leitungsverantwortung und Zusammenarbeit

Grundsatz 5     Betreuung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses

Grundsatz 6      Sicherung und Aufbewahrung von Primärdaten

Grundsatz 7     Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung

Grundsatz 8      Betreuung der Studierenden

Bekanntmachung

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CODE  OF  CONDUCT 

 

Code of Conduct of the Alpen-Adria-Universität to ensure good academic practice [I]

 

 

Academic probity and compliance with the principles of good academic practice are essential preconditions for academic work.

Infringements of good academic practice are in conflict with the nature of science.

The Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt is committed to good academic practice in research and teaching. It acknowledges that the fostering of good academic practice and an appropriate approach to allegations of misconduct is an institutional function.

This code of conduct is a guideline for all members of the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt: teaching, research and general employees as well as students.

Compliance with the principles set out in the following will contribute in the long term to avoiding misconduct in the field of science and to promoting the quality of academic work.

The following eight principles in no way replace existing (general or subject specific) statutory provisions and ethical standards but instead establish generally applicable principles of academic ethics at the level of the University as a whole.

 

 

Academics active at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt shall

•  work in accordance with the rules of their subjects, i.e. conduct their academic activity in accordance with the legal regulations, the ethical standards and the current state of knowledge of their subject or discipline,
• document their results and critically question all results consistently,
• maintain strict honesty with respect to the (written and oral) contributions of partners, colleagues, rivals and predecessors,
• avoid and preclude misconduct in their own works and (within the limits of their possibilities) in their surroundings,
• comply with the principles described in the following.

 

 

Misconduct in science shall be if, in a context of relevance to science, deliberately or with gross negligence incorrect information is provided, intellectual property of others is infringed or their research activities are impaired in any other manner. Misconduct shall include:

 

Incorrect information through

•  the invention of data,
•  falsification of date (eg. through the selection and rejection of undesired results without disclosing such; through manipulation of a representation or illustration),
• incorrect information in a letter of application or applications for subsidies (including incorrect information about publishers bodies and publications in press)

Infringement of intellectual property

with respect to copyright work created by another or significant academic knowledge, hypotheses, teachings and research approaches originating from others by means of

• unauthorised exploitation and usurpation of authorship (plagiarism),
•  the exploitation of research approaches and ideas, in particular as evaluator (theft of ideas),
• usurpation or the unjustified assumption of academic authorship or co-authorship,
• falsification of the contents,
•  unauthorised publication and the unauthorised making accessible to third parties as long as the work, knowledge, hypothesis, teaching or research approach has not yet been published,
• omission of source details in teaching (provided such is not common academic knowledge).

Impairment of another's research activity by

•   sabotage of research activity (including damage to, destruction or manipulation of equipment, documents, hardware, software or other objects that another needs in order to conduct his or her research or an experiment),
•   elimination of primary data to the extent that such infringes statutory provisions or discipline-related recognized principles of academic work or Principle 6 of this Code of Conduct

 

Unjustified assumption of (co-) authorship

 

 

Co-responsibility for misconduct can in particular result from

• the active participation in another’s misconduct,
• knowledge of another's falsifications,
• co-authorship of publications involving falsification, or
• gross negligence of the duty to supervise.

 

 

Every academic acts under his or her own responsibility within the framework of academic work. Anyone who carries out management functions in an academic field (department, working party etc) also bears responsibility for an appropriate organisation that ensures that the management, supervision, conflict settlement and quality assurance functions are allocated beyond doubt and are actually implemented. [II]

 

Each head of an academic sector shall conduct himself or herself as an academic model and ensure that the rules of good academic practice are complied with.

 

 

Each department and other university research establishment shall ensure that appropriate supervision is provided and that a primary contact person is appointed for next-generation academics, in particular for diploma, masters and doctoral students, post-docs, university assistants and candidates preparing for the Habilitation.

 

Each university teacher is expected to communicate the principles of good academic practice to the next generation of academics and to raise the topic of misconduct in science in order to contribute to the development of an awareness of the problem and responsibilities.

 

 

Primary data as the basis of academic publications must be stored on lasting and secured data carriers for at least 10 years irrespective of other statutory provisions, to the extent that such is possible and reasonable. All important results must be documented and recorded without ambiguity and in a manner capable of verification, since academic results can only be reproduced if all the important stages can be verified.

 

 

Authors are responsible for the academic reliability of their publications themselves. Publications that report about new academic results should describe the results and the methods used in full and in a manner capable of verification and provide complete and correct evidence of the author's own and third party’s preparatory works. [III]

 

Publications on the Internet and the use of Internet sources are subject to the same provisions as other publications and sources.

 

If a number of persons are involved in a piece of research work or the publication based on such, only persons who have made a major contribution to the concept of the study or experiments, to the preparation, analysis and interpretation of the data or to the wording of the manuscript themselves and have consented to publication can be identified as co-authors. [IV]

 

All authors should confirm their release of the manuscript for publication in writing. If permitted by the manner and scope of the research work or the number of authors contributing, the individual contributions of each person should also be identified. [V]

 

 

The code of conduct of the Alpen-Adria-Universität is notified to the students at the start of their studies with the assistance of the Austrian Students’ Union.

In all degree programmes, introductory courses communicate the principles and practice of good academic work.

Every university teacher shall be aware of his or her function as a role model and is expected to encourage and support students in good academic practice, raising the topic of misconduct in science and thereby contributing to developing an awareness of the problem and responsibilities.

 

 

 

This code of conduct is brought to the attention of all staff and students and published in the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Gazette.

 

[I] This code of conduct was prepared by AG Plagiat of the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt under the direction of Vice Rector Jutta Menschik-Bendele, and is based on the Code of Conduct of the Vienna Technical University dated 23.10.2007, the Guidelines of the Austrian Conference of Rectors to Ensure Good Academic Practice and the Recommendations of the “Self Monitoring in Science” Commission of the German Research Community (Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 1998)

 

[II] The management function of an academic field requires knowledge of the subject, presence and an overview. If management responsibility cannot be sufficiently exercised due to the size of the group or other reasons, the management functions shall be delegated.

Interaction in academic fields must be of such a nature that the results achieved through the specialised division of labour can be reciprocally communicated and criticised, and integrated in a common level of knowledge. This is also of particular importance for the training of next-generation academics within the group so that they can work independently. The reciprocal review of working results must also be ensured, including by making available one's own results.

 

[III] Previously published results should only be repeated in a manner that is clearly identified and only to the extent necessary for understanding the context

 

[IV] The management of an organisation unit, a research project or a working party is no more justification for co-authorship than mere participation in the collection of data or the financing of the research project. “Honorary authorship” is not permitted.

If unpublished observations by other persons are cited in the manuscript or if findings by other institutions are used, their written consent must first be obtained, subject to other recognized subject practice.

 

[V] By consenting to identification as co-author, responsibility is also assumed that the publication authorised in this manner meets academic standards. This applies above all to the field for which the co-author has provided a contribution; he or she is responsible both for the correctness of his or her own contribution and for it being included in the publication in an academically acceptable manner.