Commission for the Scientific Integrity of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Founding year
2002
History
The Commission for the Scientific Integrity of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) was established at the 8th Session of the Council for Sciences of the CAS on 26 September 2002. Its members are elected by the Council for Sciences of the CAS always for a four-year period. The first President of the Commission was Prof. Ing. Pavel Kratochvíl, DrSc. (Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the CAS), currently it´s President is Doc. PhDr. Lydia Petráňová (Institute of Ethnology of the CAS). For more information, see: Members of the Commission.
ENRIO member since
Structure
The commission works within the Czech Academy of Sciences and evaluates questions concerning the ethics of scientific work. The specific cases must be connected to the Czech Academy of Sciences. In its position and discussion, the commission is autonomous. However, the Commission does not have executive power.
The Members of the Commission are personalities known for their scientific and personal prestige. Membership in the Commission is honorary. The number of the Members of the Commission is at least 9 and at most 12, at least three members are not employees of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The composition of the Commission is, if possible, professionally balanced.
The activity of the Commission is assured in terms of technology and administration by the secretariat of the Council for Sciences of the CAS.
Main Tasks
The Commission discusses:
- general and specific question from the area of the ethics of scientific work
- submissions, initiatives and complaints of employees or scientific workplaces of the CAS, which are related to the observance of the ethics of scientific work
- exceptionally also submissions of other parties, if they concern the ethics of the scientific work at the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Investigation
In individual cases, the Commission acts based on the officially submitted external initiatives (see above Points b, c.), not at its own initiative. The Commission judges the individual submissions at its nearest session and decides whether it will deal with them further. It can also, however, drop them as unsubstantiated; it does not deal with submission connected with work-legal problems or the moral failure of an individual, which is not related to the ethics of scientific work.
The persons involved in the case and specialized advisors are usually invited to the actual meeting of the Commission. In making its decisions, it is governed by the Code of Ethics of the Researchers of the CAS.
The Commission decides on the result of the discussion by voting.
The Commission responds in writing to every discussed submission.
The response of the Commission is sent to the submitter, the persons involved, the President of the CAS, President of the Council for Sciences of the CAS and according to the nature of the issue the relevant director of the workplace of the CAS, or other bodies of the CAS and their workplaces, can be made aware. The Commission may also consider the method of the adequate publication of the case.
The Commission does not propose sanctions for any breaches of ethical conduct; they are the responsibility of the relevant bodies of the Academy and their workplaces.
Training
The training in the ethics of scientific work is assured at the Academy of Sciences by other bodies particularly within the doctoral study programmes.
Promoting Research Integrity
The Commission has prepared and if necessary amends the Code of Ethics for Researchers of the CAS, which sets out the principles of ethical conduct in science. The Codex is approved by the Assembly of the CAS, is a public document, based on which the individual workplaces of the CAS prepare similar documents amended for the specifics of the given fields. The Code of Ethics of the CAS has also become an inspiration for the creation of codes of ethics in a number of universities in the CR. The Commission of the CAS cooperates in specific cases with similar bodies of universities and develops an effort for the creation of a nation-wide coordination centre.
Contact
PhDr. Oldřich Tůma, Ph.D.
(Institute of Contemporary History of the CAS) – President of the Commission
Secretariat of the Commission for the Scientific Integrity
Czech Academy of Sciences
Národní 3
117 20 Praha 1 - Czech Republic