Can an Authentic Interest for Research Integrity be Fostered? From a Government Driven Promotion to a Voluntary Self- education and Consensus Forming on the Internet Wha-Chul Son, Ph.D Center for Good Research Practice Handong Global University

2 Topics Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity Research Ethics by Researchers Importance of Education and Research Culture The Case of On-line Portal Site for Research Integrity: “Good Research” Evaluation

3 Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity 1 Governments tend to precede researchers in promoting research integrity, because of - its official responsibility - institutional need and stability - its ability to systemize (anything) - researchers’ indifference

Post Hwang(Dec.2005) Syndrome

5 Government Driven Promotion of Research Integrity 2 While it is inevitable to a certain extent, government’s effort has its own limit because - researchers feel to be treated as potential criminal - it often consists of short-term projects - its actual outcome could be superficial - it could cause conflicts with the autonomy of researchers

6 Internalization of Research Ethics 1 It is natural that researchers themselves should be the main actor in promoting research integrity, because - RCR is about what they do. - it is vital to protect their autonomy in research and to sustain their authority as experts. Research ethics should be internalized, not imposed.

7 Internalization of Research Ethics 2 However, it is difficult for researchers to commit their time and energy for promoting research integrity, because of - priority problem - little incentives - professionally, intellectually - lack of relevant knowledge

What They Do and Don’t

9 Ethical Research Culture and the Importance of Education It is vital to establish an ethical research culture in which RCR is internalized. Not just against research misconduct, but promoting “good research” Not by government’s pressure, but by researchers’ voluntary involvement in consensus making procedure concerning relevant issues The importance of educating next generation researchers

10 On-line Researcher’s Community 좋은연구 (Good Research) Not just information achieve, but interactive portal site Reflecting Korean on-line culture (Internet Statistics Report 2008) % of population(+3) using the Internet - 50% of users(+6) active in on-line community and 43% having personal blogs % of users(+6) visiting portal sites

11 Project Launched in Dec Portal Site Opened on June 30 th, 2008 Five Project Members, 7 staffs Government Funded Current Review (July 08 ~ April 09, 10 months) - Members: Total visitors: 22,682 - Total page-views: 200,651

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17 Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics Visitors per day

18 Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics Page-views per day

19 Web Portal “Good Research” Statistics Academic Information – 339 articles archived Community and on-line Cafe – 385 messages written Other Information (news, notice, bulleting boards) – 234 items listed Various search methods, on-line polls, information gathering function

20 Potentials Dependent on government funding (which is inevitable), but relatively free of any form of control Improving technical features, archiving more information, and developing various events and activities Increasing visitors and writers Potential ‘space’ where researchers can have meaningful dialogue concerning research, research ethics, and good research

21 Challenges How to attract researchers to stay longer How far to expand the service - on-line counseling system Future prospect - Can this be really independent? - example of membership system

22 Conclusion There is a clear limit in government driven promotion of research integrity. Ethical research culture and education toward such a culture is vital. On-line portal site for archiving relevant information and for researchers’ interaction could promote voluntary interest for research integrity. There are several huddles to overcome and various tryouts are being made.

Thank You!