Guidance on research integrity provided by European discipline-specific learned societies: A scoping review

There is little research on how guidance provided in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA code) compares with recommendations developed by European discipline-specific learned societies. We identified, and conducted a content analysis of, 58 guideline documents from 245 societies. Less than 25% of societies in any discipline provide guidance and there are notable disciplinary differences. Recommendations not reflected in the ALLEA code relate primarily to research culture and environment. Medical and Health Sciences societies often focus on regulatory and procedural aspects of research, whereas Natural Sciences societies emphasize the importance of accurate and appropriate dissemination of results. Humanities and Social Sciences societies’ recommendations are more heterogenous and relate to the nature of specific sub-disciplines. Our results reflect differences in epistemological approaches as well as the specific role and responsibilities of societies as membership organizations. We recommend that societies develop, or endorse, appropriate research integrity guidance.

ON SOME ASPECTS OF DATA PROTECTION IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

This paper discusses issues related to gathering, processing and protection of personal data in scientific research. Highlights of the General Regulation on Data Protection and the European Code of Conduct for Research Intregrity concerning the regulatory and ethical aspects of research are presented.

European Code against Cancer: Europe’s key cancer prevention tool in informing the general public how to reduce their cancer risk

The European Code against Cancer (ECAC), launched in 1987 and after several periodical updates now used in its 4th edition published in 2014-15 in all official European languages, is a key cancer prevention tool that translates scientific evidence into unambiguous public health recommendations for the general public of how to reduce their risk of getting or dying from cancer. The 4th edition is the most comprehensive one, providing context and background information for a better understanding of the twelve recommendations. It is further supported by a recently launched self-learning course for health promoters, hosted in the E-Learning Center of Europe's leading network of cancer prevention research institutions: Cancer Prevention Europe (CPE). With an abundance of rather confusing “cancer news” the public receives through media and the Internet almost everyday, there is indeed a need for a reliable, authoritative and evidence-based information source for cancer prevention. For that reason, the ECAC recommendations follow three key scientific principles: it only recommends scientifically established actions for reducing cancer risk, its messages are relevant for a broader general public, and it communicates them in a non-scientific language so they are easy to follow. In 2020, IARC/WHO, CPE, Association of European Cancer Leagues and other ECAC stakeholders, have developed a roadmap for the ECAC's sustainability within the innovative Partnership on Action Against Cancer (iPAAC). This plan being essential towards achieving the 80% awareness goal, its main elements include a scientific revision, an expansion to include scientifically established successful interventions in cancer prevention on both individual and population levels, an expansion on the target groups encompassing health professionals and policymakers, and an outreach for synergies with other non-communicable diseases prevention strategies.

3.N. Workshop: Toward Europe Beating Cancer Plan goal of 80% awareness of the European Code Against Cancer in 2025

Cancer cases continue rising worldwide and cancer remains a leading cause of death in Europe. Almost 4.4 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in Europe in 2020 and almost 2 million deaths were due to cancer. These projections will increase to more than 5 million new cases and 2.5 million deaths in 2040, only taking demographic changes into account, and corresponding to around 100 million new cancer patients over the next 20 years. Studies in Europe and elsewhere estimate that around 40% of cancers could be prevented if current understanding of risk and protective factors would be translated into effective primary prevention, with further reductions in cancer incidence and mortality by early detection of cancer. By far tobacco represents the largest contributor to cancer, with studies showcasing its responsibility for around 20% of the cancer burden and thereby causing almost half of all preventable cancers. Other important risk factors include excess weight and unhealthy diet, alcohol, infections and other environmental and occupational exposures. Scientific evidence has been translated into a set of public health recommendations within the European Code against Cancer (ECAC). The ECAC informs the general public on the steps to take to reduce their cancer risk, and is Europe's key cancer prevention tool to improve health literacy on cancer risks and prevention measures. The recently launched Europe's Beating Cancer Plan announced that “The European Code against Cancer will be updated to take into account the latest scientific developments and will add new evidence-based recommendations to improve health literacy. The Cancer Plan will aim to make at least 80% of the population aware of the Code by 2025.” After over three decades of ECAC's promotion, we present the results from the first study assessing its impact in Europe at population and health promoters' level. This study serves as a baseline of the awareness of the ECAC in Europe and paves the way towards a scaled-up systematic evaluation. Also, the French Cancer Barometer has monitored changes in the perception of cancer risk factors over 10,000 people during a 10-year follow-up. Such a national case-study has the potential to be scaled-up at European level. Finally, the Eurobarometer is an Europe-wide tool that provides regular public opinion surveys, including on health, in all Member States. In this workshop we explore options including the Eurobarometer as a potential tool to measure progress towards the Cancer Plan aforementioned goal. The objectives of this workshop are: to provide the rationale for a standard, sustainable and Europe-wide tool to measure progress on awareness on the ECAC and its recommendations, in order to reach the goal of 80% awareness of the ECAC by 2025, to build upon national best practices on the assessment of population perceptions on cancer risk factors, to showcase and discuss with participants on available European tools and metrics towards a Cancer Barometer. Key messages “What gets measured, gets done”. We call for standard and sustained measuring tools at European level to measure progress towards the health literacy goal of 80% awareness of the Code by 2025. Current awareness of many cancer risk factors and the European Code across Europe is low. The French Cancer Barometer is presented as a country-case study with potential to be scaled-up EU wide.

Promoting Responsible Research Practices by Training Researchers’ Virtues

"Promoting research integrity is crucial to achieve high quality and relevant results, and preserve public trust in science. In recent years, many codes of conducts, guidelines and regulations on national and international level, such as the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, have been issued to tackle this issue. However, these documents are often perceived as an externally imposed set of rules that researchers need to comply with in order to tick the box of integrity and get their research done. These research integrity efforts are important, but are they enough? We argue that in order to foster ‘good’ science, educating ‘good’ researchers is crucial. To respond to these issues, the VIRT2UE project has created an open source online training for researchers and educators that supports the internalization of the practices and principles of good science by building upon a virtue-based approach. Core elements of this approach are reflections on the intrinsic motivation of researchers and the cultivation of those moral characters which support the practices and principles of good science. The VIRT2UE training consists of a toolbox with training materials which can be used both online and offline, easy to use and adaptable to context. Starting from the assumption that virtues are learned through experience and by example, we will show what role trainers and educators can play in promoting a virtue-based approach to research integrity and what this implies for their own education and professionalization as trainers. "

Cyclic engagement of hysteretic steel dampers in braced buildings: a parametric investigation

Hysteretic steel dampers have been effectively used to improve the seismic performance of framed buildings by confining the dissipation of seismic energy into sacrifical, replaceable devices which are not part of the gravity framing system. The number of cycles sustained by the dampers during the earthquake is a primary design parameter, since it can be associated to low-cycle fatigue, with ensuing degradation of the mechanical properties and potential failure of the system. Current standards, like e.g. the European code EN 15129, indeed prescribe, for the initial qualification and the production control of hysteretic steel dampers, cyclic tests in which the devices are assessed over ten cycles with amplitude equal to the seismic design displacement dbd. This paper presents a parametric study focused on the number of effective cycles of the damper during a design earthquake in order to assess the reliability of the testing procedure proposed by the standards. The study considers typical applications of hysteretic steel dampers in low and medium-rise steel and reinforced concrete framed buildings and different ductility requirements. The results point out that the cyclic engagement of the damper is primarily affected by the fundamental period of the braced building and the design spectrum, and that, depending on these parameters, the actual number of cycles can be substantially smaller or larger that recommended by the standards. A more refined criterion for establishing the number of cycles to be implemented in testing protocols is eventually formulated.

Virtue-based ethics and integrity of research: train-the-trainer programme for upholding the principles and practices of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (VIRT2UE)

Background: Recognising the importance of addressing ethics and research integrity (ERI) in Europe, in 2017, the All European Academies (ALLEA) published a revised and updated European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ECoC). Consistent application of the ECoC by researchers across Europe will require its widespread dissemination, as well as an innovative training programme and novel tools to enable researchers to truly uphold and internalise the principles and practices listed in the Code. Aim: VIRT2UE aims to develop a sustainable train-the-trainer blended learning programme enabling contextualised ERI teaching across Europe focusing on understanding and upholding the principles and practices of the ECoC. Vision: The VIRT2UE project recognises that researchers not only need to have knowledge of the ECoC, but also to be able to truly uphold and internalise the principles underpinning the code. They need to learn how to integrate them into their everyday practice and understand how to act in concrete situations. VIRT2UE addresses this challenge by providing ERI trainers and researchers with an innovative blended (i.e. combined online and off-line approaches) learning programme that draws on a toolbox of educational resources and incorporates an e-learning course (including a YouTube channel) and face-to-face sessions designed to foster moral virtues. ERI trainers and researchers from academia and industry will have open access to online teaching material. Moreover, ERI trainers will learn how to facilitate face-to-face sessions of researchers, which focus on learning how to apply the content of the teaching material to concrete situations in daily practice. Objectives: VIRT2UE’s work packages (WP) will: conduct a conceptual mapping amongst stakeholders to identify and rank the virtues which are essential for good scientific practice and their relationship to the principles and practices of the ECoC (WP1); identify and consult ERI trainers and the wider scientific community to understand existing capacity and deficiencies in ERI educational resources (WP2); develop the face-to-face component of the train-the-trainer programme which provides trainers with tools to foster researchers’ virtues and promote the ECoC and iteratively develop the programme based on evaluations (WP3); produce educational materials for online learning by researchers and trainers (WP4); implement and disseminate the train-the-trainer programme across Europe, ensuring the training of sufficient trainers for each country and build capacity and consistency by focusing on underdeveloped regions and unifying fragmented efforts (WP5); and develop the online training platform and user interface, which will be instrumental in evaluation of trainers’ and researchers’ needs and project sustainability (WP6). Impact: The VIRT2UE training programme will promote consistent application of the ECoC across Europe. The programme will affect behaviour on the individual level of trainers and researchers – simultaneously developing an understanding of the ECoC and other ERI issues, whilst also developing scientific virtues, enabling the application of the acquired knowledge to concrete situations and complex moral dilemmas. Through a dedicated embedding strategy, the programme will also have an impact on an institutional level. The train-the-trainer approach multiplies the impact of the programme by reaching current and future European ERI trainers and, subsequently, the researchers they train.

Design Basis of Movable Scaffolding Systems Following American and European Code Provisions and Recommendations

Construction of bridges span-by-span with Movable Scaffolding Systems (MSSs) is a very efficient and competitive technology. Normally used for spans between 25 and 70m, the technology has allowed reaching longer spans due to technological advances, specifically in bridge construction equipment. Thereby, the use of MSS has become widespread and well-accepted in a large number of locations across the USA and Europe. Nevertheless, despite its extended application, there is no single specific code provision that can explain, control, and give recommendations about all aspects of MSS during its design and usage. On the contrary, the information is spread over several documents. This paper aims at bridging this gap by providing an extensive review of code provisions and recommendations that can be valid for the MSS design. Applicability of these documents is discussed by analysing loads, safety factors, load combinations, limit states, as well as structural analysis and design. After this, a proposal of a design basis for MSS is presented for each aspect mentioned following provisions and recommendations of the considered codes.