Created in 2017 as a department of Hcéres (High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education), the French Office for Research Integrity (Ofis) implements the missions in research integrity entrusted by law to this independent public authority. Ofis thus contributes to the definition of a national policy of research integrity, and supports all the actors who contribute to the respect of the rules guaranteeing an honest, rigorous, reliable and credible research activity. Ofis represents France in European and international cooperation bodies in this field.
To build and share a common culture of research integrity, Ofis’ actions are developed in three axes: observatory, resources, animation and prospective.
Observatory
Ofis acts as a national observatory for the implementation of research integrity policies, in particular in line with the commitments of the 2015 charter of ethics for research professions and the 2020 research programming law. In this context, it maintains the national directory of research integrity officers and produces a summary of the progress of policies developed by institutions every two years. Ofis also conducts surveys to better characterize changes in the research integrity landscape.
Resources
Ofis promotes the sharing of good practices: it provides all actors with training tools, resources to raise awareness and promote research integrity (FAQ, vade-mecum, Moocs, videos, etc.). In particular, it disseminates the collective work of the research integrity officers. It ensures a documentary and regulatory watch. As part of its scientific monitoring mission, Ofis disseminates research reports on specific themes (e.g. predatory journals) and on new RI practices related to changes in research practices: open science, citizen science, big data, etc. It publicizes the results of research projects in these areas and identifies research topics to be developed.
Animation and prospective
In close partnership with the various stakeholders, Ofis organizes conferences and leads working groups in charge of producing analyses, views and proposals that can inform the decision-making of public authorities.
Every year Ofis brings together all research integrity officers for an half-day meeting to discuss current issues in the field.
Hcéres