FRAMEWORK for COLLABORATIVE ACTION

The planning committee for the project was charged with identifying the components of a comprehensive approach to institutional efforts to advance research integrity across graduate education. Our pilot programs, outlined here, formed the basis of this framework for collective action.

This initiative was based on the shared view that universities seeking to fully embed research ethics into graduate curricula and reinforce that commitment through institutional processes and procedures would benefit from a common framework for action. Such a framework should be flexible enough to allow for institutional innovation and differences, but should provide the participating universities with a shared structure that would facilitate implementation and assessment in the project and an exchange of information among institutions. The model below is premised on the notion that any genuine positive culture change at an institution involves effective leadership in fostering interaction, analysis, and strategizing at every stage:
  1. Engage the community in identifying needs.
  2. Invite key stakeholders to reflect on a plan for action.
  3. Act on those reflections.
  4. Communicate to the broader community about activities and their ongoing impact.
  5. Integrate activities to ensure greatest impact and sustainability.

These steps have been outlined with the understanding that they need not be followed in strict sequence, and that feedback loops may occur at different points. For example, inviting faculty and campus leaders to brainstorm about issues and potential strategy for action may precede efforts to focus the attention of the broader community on the need for action, and may help to identify particular needs that will help to convince others of the importance of the project. Also, as both curricular and administrative integration are among the chief goals of this project, questions of integration and sustainability will need to be considered in the initial planning stages.

To read a more detailed description of this framework, please see The Project for Scholarly Integrity: A Framework for Collaborative Action (PDF).