Ethics and research data

Ethics and research data

All scientists are obliged to act responsibly in their research to prevent possible misuse that could lead to harm to humans, animals or the environment. There are ethical rules that must also be considered in research data management. Throughout the life cycle of research data, care must be taken to include ethical aspects. In particular, it must be examined what damage or hazards could result from the misuse of research data.

In the DFG's "Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice", Guideline 10 on research ethics states:

Research ethics at the DFG

"Scientists handle the constitutionally granted freedom of research responsibly. They take into account rights and obligations, in particular those resulting from legal requirements, but also from contracts with third parties, and, where necessary, obtain and submit approvals and ethical votes. With regard to research projects, a thorough assessment of the research consequences and evaluation of the respective ethical aspects should be carried out. The legal framework of a research project also includes documented agreements on the rights of use of research data and research results arising from it."

As a rule, information on ethical aspects must almost always be provided for the following areas (source: https://www.forschungsdaten.info/themen/ethik-und-gute-wissenschaftliche-praxis/ethik-und-fdm/):

  • Experiments on and with humans
  • Experiments that collect and archive personal data
  • Research in which samples such as tissue are taken from humans
  • Experiments on animals
  • Research relevant to the environment
  • Exchange of knowledge and technology with third countries
  • Safety-relevant research (dual use), where there is potential for misuse of the research results

The Ethics Committee of TU Braunschweig advises the scientists of the TU on all ethical questions and prepares ethics opinions or votes upon request.

Further information on this topic can be found here:

Ethics in research data in education

Ethics and animal experiments