RESPONSE_ABILITY A Card-Based Engagement Method to Support Researchers' Ability to Respond to Integrity Issues.

Area of Science:

• Scientific Integrity
• Research Ethics
• Academic Culture

Background:

• Growing attention to research integrity in policy and academia.
• Existing integrity courses often lack discipline-specific and career-stage dimensions.
• Criticism that current training does not foster in-depth engagement with ethical dilemmas.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce and evaluate the RESPONSE_ABILITY card-based engagement method.
• Support researchers in developing nuanced responses to good scientific practice challenges.
• Promote a reflexive approach to research integrity and value conflicts.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a card-based engagement method called RESPONSE_ABILITY.
• Employed four sets of cards as stimulus material for reflection.
• Facilitated individual and collective discussion on research integrity from multiple perspectives.

Main Results:

• The method encourages negotiation of acceptable practices within specific contexts.
• Participants engaged reflectively with ideals and realities of good scientific practice.
• The approach opened spaces to address underlying value conflicts faced by researchers.

Conclusions:

• RESPONSE_ABILITY fosters the creation of a research integrity culture.
• Meaningful integrity training requires balancing individual responsibility and institutional support.
• Institutional environments should enable researchers to be 'response-able' for ethical conduct.