Ethics and integrity in ICSTM research
ICSTM promotes a culture of ethics and integrity across all its activities in research, publishing, scientific consultancy, institutional development and RDI services. The centre considers that the value of research is determined not only by the volume of publications or the visibility of results, but also by the soundness of the process through which those results are obtained, interpreted, communicated and put to use.
Principles of the Ethics and Integrity Policy
1. Intellectual honesty. ICSTM promotes the accurate reporting of ideas, data, methods, results and authors' contributions. Any work, report, article, book, chapter or project produced under the auspices of the centre must draw an explicit distinction between the authors' own contribution, the contributions of collaborators and the external sources used;
2. Methodological rigour. Research ethics is not limited to avoiding plagiarism. It includes sound methodological design, the justified selection of methods, the responsible collection of data, the critical interpretation of results and the reporting of the limitations of the research;
3. Transparency and traceability. RDI activities must be documented in such a way that methodological decisions, the sources used, the contributions of authors and the provenance of the data can be traced. This rule is essential for articles, books, chapters, RDI projects, institutional reports and consultancy services;
4. Responsibility towards participants. In research involving individuals, organisations, communities, personal data or sensitive topics, ICSTM will promote informed consent, confidentiality, the minimisation of risk, the protection of vulnerable persons and the responsible use of data. European guidelines for research in the social sciences and humanities emphasise the importance of informed consent, data protection and the management of unforeseen situations that may arise in interviews, observation or fieldwork;
5. Integrity in publishing. ICSTM will support responsible publication, avoiding redundant publication, the artificial fragmentation of results, the unjustified inclusion of authors, the omission of genuine contributions, manipulative citation and the submission of the same manuscript to several journals;
6. Responsible use of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence tools may be used to support documentation, structuring, language checking, synthesis or exploratory analysis, but they cannot replace the author's responsibility, the verification of sources, the author's own scientific contribution and final accountability for the content. The European Commission and the European Research Area Forum have published guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research, with recommendations for researchers, research organisations and funders.
Ethics in Social Sciences and Humanities Research
ICSTM promotes ethics and integrity as the foundations of scientific research, academic publishing, RDI services and knowledge transfer. The work of the centre is based on intellectual honesty, methodological rigour, transparency, professional responsibility, the protection of participants, the sound management of data, and the recognition of the genuine contributions of authors and collaborators. ICSTM rejects any form of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, redundant publication, unjustified authorship, manipulation of results, undeclared conflict of interest, or non-transparent use of digital and artificial intelligence tools. The ethics and integrity policy of ICSTM is aligned with Romanian legislation on research, development and innovation, with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, with the standards of the European Research Area, and with international good practice in responsible research, scientific publication and the protection of research participants.