French Office for Research Integrity (Ofis)
Founding year
2017
History
The French Office for Research Integrity was created in 2017 by a Circular Letter of the Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research. Its creation results from an official report in 2016 on the implementation of the French Charter of Research Deontology signed since 2015 by an increasing number of universities and research bodies.
Ofis was settled within an independent administrative authority, the High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES).
ENRIO member since
Structure
OFIS is a national transversal body, established in 2017 as a department of the High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (Hcéres), the only French independent authority in the field of research and higher education.
The structure includes a department (staff operating since 2018) and a 12-member advisory board.
Main Tasks
- Observatory : Ofis acts as a national observatory for the implementation of research integrity policies, in particular in line the 2020 research programming law. It maintains the national directory of research integrity officers and produces a summary of the progress of policies developed by institutions every two years.
- Resources : Ofis promotes good practices: training tools, resources to raise awareness and promote RI (FAQ, vade-mecum, Moocs, videos, etc.). It ensures a documentary and regulatory watch and disseminates research reports on specific themes (e.g. predatory journals) and on new RI practices related to changes in research practices: open science, citizen science, big data, artificial intelligence, etc.
- Animation and prospective : in close partnership with the various stakeholders, Ofis organizes conferences and leads working groups in charge of producing analyses, views and proposals that can inform the decision-making of public authorities. Every year Ofis brings together all research integrity officers for an half-day meeting to discuss current issues in the field.
Investigation
Ofis provides guidelines promoting the responsible conduct of research in order to prevent misconducts and to propose proper investigation’s procedures.
Ofis publishes recommendations on its website, for conducting investigations of alleged misconduct in research.
Ofis is not a regulatory body and does not conduct the preliminary inquiry or the alleged violation investigation, which are led by research integrity officers, under the own responsability of he organisations conducting research.
Training
Ofis provides recommendations to strengthen and harmonize training within universities and research bodies (students and PhD candidates, senior researchers), in order to emphasize best practices and to avoid misconduct.
Ofis is also planning regular workshops with and for research integrity officers, in order to share their experience through illustrative cases studies, and to provide practical advice.
Promoting Research Integrity
The French Office for Research Integrity advises research institutions by promoting research integrity and disseminate policies, guidelines and other products, available on its website.
OFIS contributes also to the promotion of research integrity at a national and international level, by participating to conferences, and by holding its own events.
Contact
Michel Dubois
Director
OFIS - HCERES
19 rue Poissonnière
75002 PARIS