22 Oct 2024
LERU publishes advice paper on research integrity
LERU, the League of European Research Universities, has published an advice paper 'Communicating with integrity - Supporting researchers with best practice in communication'.
LERU states that in recent years, there has been an increased pressure for researchers to communicate their research to the public. The succinct nature and time pressures associated with traditional media and social media communications can make it more challenging to present a clear, comprehensive, and transparent picture of research than in scholarly publications. In its paper, LERU argues that there needs to be an increased emphasis on the skills researchers need to impart their research findings clearly and correctly. According to the paper, special attention should therefore be paid to:
- Openness in research communication: Researchers should be encouraged to communicate key information, including conflicts of interest, context, and who contributed to the work.
- Communicating uncertainty: Universities should be encouraged to explore how they can support and train researchers to properly present any uncertainty in their work
- Social media and similar communications platforms: Institutions should guide their researchers on how best to communicate online and how to avoid pitfalls that could undermine their communications activities.
The paper also outlines how research integrity professionals should integrate support for key communication skills into their wider efforts to support best practice in research integrity.
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