1. PURPOSE
This code of conduct seeks to ensure that researchers at the University of Auckland maintain the highest standards of professional conduct when undertaking and supervising research by outlining the guiding principles and responsibilities along with relevant examples. Breaches of the code may constitute “Misconduct in Research”. The Education Act 1989 protects the academic freedom of academic staff and students to undertake research, but this academic freedom is predicated on the need to maintain the highest ethical standards; the need to permit public scrutiny to ensure maintenance of those standards; and the need for accountability and the proper use of resources. All researchers at the University of Auckland are expected to adhere to this Code.
All researchers at the University of Auckland are expected to adhere to this Code.
2. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this code, the definition of “Research” is that used for New Zealand‟s Performance-Based Research Fund, which is currently: “original investigation undertaken in order to contribute to knowledge and understanding and, in the case of some disciplines, cultural innovation or aesthetic refinement. It typically involves enquiry of an experimental or critical nature driven by hypotheses or intellectual positions capable of rigorous assessment by experts in a given discipline. It is an independent*, creative, cumulative and often long-term activity conducted by people with specialist knowledge about the theories, methods and information concerning their field of enquiry. Its findings must be open to scrutiny and formal evaluation by others in the field, and this may be achieved through publication or public presentation. In some disciplines, the investigation and its results may be embodied in the form of artistic works, designs or performances. Research includes contribution to the intellectual infrastructure of subjects and disciplines (eg. dictionaries and scholarly editions). It also includes the experimental development of design or construction solutions, as well as investigation that leads to new or substantially improved materials, devices, products or processes.
* The term “independent‟ here should not be construed to exclude collaborative work.”1
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