Plymouth College of Art Guiding Principles on Good Conduct in Staff Research and Scholarly Activities

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1 Plymouth College of Art Guiding Principles on Good Conduct in Staff Research and Scholarly Activities Introduction This document constitutes Plymouth College of Art guiding principles on good conduct in staff research and scholarly activities. It also describes the College s procedures for ensuring that the principles associated with this policy are upheld and maintained across research and related activities. In drawing up this policy and its attendant procedures and definitions, the College takes account of other relevant practices, such as legislation relating to Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety, Data Protection, Intellectual Property, human participation and Animal Experimentation. As a specialist college of art, design and media Plymouth College of Art s guidance on good conduct in research, practice and scholarly activity is designed to be relevant to the broad practice-led and theory-based range of art, design and media activities with which it is associated. The intention has been to create clear and consistent guiding principles to guide College staff, and to enunciate these guiding principles to wider audiences. As well as being relevant to research initiated and/or led by College staff, the guiding principles are intended to be applicable to situations in which College staff collaborate in projects led by external agencies, and/or involve persons and activities from disciplinary backgrounds other than those associated with art and design. In all cases, the College seeks to ensure that any research activity with which its staff are associated, either as Principal Investigators or in secondary cooperative roles, is ethically valid and that the concerned staff remain vigilant regarding the possible ethical dimensions of their activities and that of their colleagues. 1. Definitions of Research and Scholarly Activities: The specialist, professional art, design and media focus of the College s academic portfolio is central to its higher education identity and ethos and is the determining factor in shaping its definition of research. Thus, while the College fully recognises and operates to a REF definition of research in that; research is defined as a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared. It includes work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, and to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship; the invention and generation of ideas, images, performances, artefacts including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental development

2 to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes, including design and construction. ( In this respect the College accepts that art and design research is often concerned with particulars, is qualitative and holistic in its expression, and can have a worth or impact that at times cannot be adequately captured through metrics-based indices (features that are typically contained in descriptors such as experiential, embodied, tacit, situational, and procedural ). For these reasons the College definition of research is inclusive of activities whose primary outputs can sometimes consist of material artefacts, audio constructions, creative writing forms, exhibitions, and the production of ephemeral and time-based performances and related phenomena. The College also views research in art and design as forming an integral part of the creative process, rather than a necessarily independent professional activity (although it of course recognises that it can be this too) and will therefore at times interpret the title of artist or designer as synonymous with researcher or Principal Investigator. In support of this direction, the College will judiciously encourage and support links between research and professional practice, and research and pedagogy. 2. Principles of Good Conduct in Research and Scholarly Activities: The College aims to promote an environment which values and supports good research practice. It strives to ensure that ethical standards associated with research are appropriate to its status as a publicly funded educational body and to the communities it serves including the wider academic community, the relevant professional bodies and professional contexts of art, design and media practice and the public at large. All the College s researchers are expected to develop and conduct their research according to the following principals of good conduct in research and related activities: Honesty and Integrity Researchers must be honest and exhibit integrity in respect of their research actions - from Planning Development and project approval, through Implementation, to Post-Project Developments, including collation of data, output and dissemination, and acknowledgement of others contribution. Researchers are also expected to bring these standards to bear on the actions of other researchers who they are associated with.

3 Researchers must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may affect their research work, and any potential for the topic or project to in any way compromise the reputations of the College, or those conducting or participating in the research. Openness The College accepts that researchers will occasionally need to protect their research and Intellectual Property interests through the Planning Development, Implementation, and occasionally, even the Post-Project Developmental stages. However, the College encourages, wherever possible, the sharing and open discussion of research and research issues with other staff and with the public. Once a project is completed and its outputs are published, researchers are expected to make relevant material and data available to others on request, excepting those rare instances where to do so would be to contravene statements concerning anonymity, confidentiality and consent, and/or the terms of contracts relating to the research. The research is also expected to abide by the rules regarding the sharing and dissemination of information published by the relevant funding an/or professional bodies. Collaborative and Group Research Researchers who are leading collaborative or group research initiatives are expected to take responsibility for ensuring the appropriate direction of the research. Also, to foster a research environment that promotes mutual co-operation and the open exchange of research ideas, enabling all members of the research team to develop their skills and competencies. Documenting Results and Storing Data (text, image and/or audio based) The College acknowledges that some practice-based research activities do not lend themselves to documentation. In these instances, researchers should maintain records according to the best practice methods associated with their fields and in accordance with the goal of developing and maintaining clear and accurate audit trails of their research procedures and interim results - both to evidence proper research practice and to substantiate the conduct of the research and the results obtained. The College expects data generated in the course of research be held securely for a period of ten years after a project s completion. Publishing Results

4 The College is sensitive to the ways in which publication and dissemination in art and design can occur through a wide variety of forms, but will almost always expect of the projects it supports, that outcomes are published. These outcomes might include written outputs and/or exhibitions and/or performances. So-called immaterial and/or time-based works should, wherever possible, be documented in the interests of communicating the knowledge of, and embodied within, such activities to future scholars and audiences. Researchers involved in collaborative initiatives should agree protocols for any joint authorship of outcomes, for publication fee s, including future sales or reprints, in advance of dissemination or publication. 3. Definitions of Unethical Conduct in Research: The following definitions are not considered exhaustive, but are presented as guides to the type of research-related activities that may be deemed unethical. For example, research activity that: Causes embarrassment, discomfort, inconvenience or suffering, in any manner whatsoever (psychological or physical) to any individual, groups or communities of people. Results (unwittingly or otherwise) in unfair discrimination on grounds of race, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Breaches the rights to privacy and confidentiality of any individual, community, organisation or institution. In this regard staff must be especially aware of issues concerning: The identification of persons 3rd party access to collated data (text, image or audio based). The potential for lapses in security, abuse or misuse, associated with collated data (text, image or audio based) and systems of storage and manipulation. Breaches copyright or plagiarises the work of any individual, organisation or institution. Causes embarrassment, discomfort, inconvenience or suffering, in any manner whatsoever (psychological or physical, including disturbance of habitat) to any animal or group of animals. Causes damage or disturbance to, or nuisance within, an environment (human or animal inhabited or uninhabited, historic or natural) temporary or otherwise.

5 Is shared with, sponsored by, or in any sense involves other individuals, groups or organisations whose involvement and/or benefit from any outcomes in whatever manner might be perceived as ethically dubious. 4. Procedures for Maintaining Good Conduct in Research and Scholarly Activities: Research associated with College staff is considered from the perspective of three essential stages: 1. Planning Development 1a. Where a researcher is seeking the support or sponsorship of the College, s/he will be required to submit a proposal to the Research and Scholarship Committee for consideration. The Research and Scholarship Committee must be satisfied that a project can be conducted in a manner that is ethically sound and defensible, and that the member of staff understands the procedures that will be required to ensure that methods comply with accepted good practice and with relevant legislation. 1b. Staff engaged in developing research proposals are therefore obliged to scrutinise their intended work closely for possible unethical elements during this stage and must indicate to the Research and Scholarship Committee whether they detect any potential ethical issues associated with their activities prior to commencement of a project. Where potential issues are detected, the proposer must ensure that these are drawn to the attention of the Research and Scholarship Committee, and are fully detailed, along with descriptions of any procedures, systems and/or methods to be adopted to address these contingencies, before approval can be granted. 1c. Where research involves collaboration with external agencies and individuals, the Research and Scholarship Committee will also expect to see a clear demarcation of rights and responsibilities and protocols covering joint authorship outcomes, publication rights or fee s and/or rights associated with future sales or reprints. The Research and Scholarship Committee must also approve the terms of any contracts between agencies relating to these matters. 1d. The Research and Scholarship Committee reserve the right to call for additional information, such as sample questionnaires, identification agreements, details of intended samples, details of information storage and retrieval systems. The project may not start (including the gathering of initial agreements) until the Research and Scholarship Committee has given its approval. Confirmation that

6 necessary agreements and relevant permissions have been received will be required before the project can commence. 2. Implementation 2a. It is the responsibility of individual staff researchers to continually monitor the project throughout the implementation stage to ensure: That their work, or the work with which they are associated, is being conducted in an ethically responsible manner. That any specifically approved procedures, systems and/or methods are maintained and not contravened. That any issues arising are immediately brought to the attention of the Research and Scholarship Committee. 3. Post-project developments 3a. It is the responsibility of individual staff researchers to ensure that postproject arrangements (for example, concerning collated text, image or audio based data and/or related future developments such as exhibition or other public outcomes) continue to be effective and work to maintain the integrity of the College policy on good conduct. 3b. To immediately notify the Research and Scholarship Committee should any issues arise. 5. Definitions of Research Misconduct Academic research misconduct of any kind will be taken as a serious disciplinary offence and the College will vigorously pursue any allegations of research misconduct. However, the College will also seek to protect its researchers from malicious, mischievous or frivolous allegations. The following definitions are not considered exhaustive, but are presented as guides to the forms that researchrelated misconduct may take, intentional or otherwise: - Failure to obtain appropriate permission to conduct research. - Deception in relation to research proposals. - Unethical behaviour in the conduct or research. - Unauthorised use of information that was acquired confidentially. - Fabrication, falsification or corruption of research data. - Distortion of research outcomes by distortion or omission of data that do not fit expected results. - Dishonest misinterpretation of results.

7 - Publication of data known or believed to be false or misleading. - Plagiarism or dishonest use of unacknowledged sources. - Misquotation or misrepresentation of other authors. - Inappropriate attribution of authorship. - Misuse of research funds or research equipment. - Attempting, planning or conspiring to be involved in research misconduct. - Collusion in, or concealment of, research misconduct by others. - Failure to notify the Research and Scholarship Committee should issues arise during the course of a project, or thereafter. - Failure to comply with relevant legislation, including legislation relating to health and safety, data protection, intellectual property, animal experimentation and equal opportunities. 6. Procedures for Addressing Research Misconduct Suspected research misconduct on the part of a member of staff should, in the first instance, be brought to the attention of the Chair of the Research and Scholarship Committee, in writing and accompanied by any available supporting evidence. Allegations will be considered through the appropriate College disciplinary procedure. If misconduct is uncovered, and the research is funded in whole or in part by an outside funding body, the College will have regard to the guidance issued by this body. If the research has been published, the College will consider whether it is appropriate to inform the relevant curators, project managers, editors, or publishers, of any finding. If an allegation of misconduct is made publicly, the College will consider whether it is appropriate to make public the outcome of its investigation. If an allegation is found to be knowingly malicious or mischievous, this may result in disciplinary action against those making the allegation.