Ombudsperson

The Ombudsperson is an independent, appropriately qualified academic staff member from each MPI, elected to act as an impartial mediator in cases of conflict on matters of good scientific practice. It is the job of the ombudsperson to be available to all concerned as a confidential advisor for employees from all departments in cases where there is suspicion of a violation of the principles of good scientific practice.

The Ombudsperson also helps employees work through work-related problems and conflicts and thus can be contacted to mediate disputes between employees, employees and Operations, and employees and the Directorate.

Research at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics is guided by the fundamental principles of research integrity and fully endorsed by the Max Planck Society. The Max Planck Society published the Rules of conduct for good scientific practice and established ombudspersons at every Max Planck Institute.

These principles have been summarised in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and include:

• Reliability in ensuring the quality of research, reflected in the design, methodology, analysis, and use of resources.
• Honesty in developing, undertaking, reviewing, reporting, and communicating research in a transparent, fair, full, and unbiased way.
• Respect for colleagues, research participants, research subjects, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage, and the environment.
• Accountability for the research from idea to publication, for its management and organisation, for training, supervision, and mentoring, and for its wider societal impacts.

Scientific misconduct encompasses:

• Falsification, i.e. manipulating research materials, equipment, images, or processes, or changing, omitting, or suppressing data or results without justification.
• Fabrication, i.e. making up results and recording them as if they were real.
• Plagiarism, i.e. using other people’s work or ideas without giving proper credit to the original source.

Special advice for research conducted at Dutch institutions is detailed in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and for research at German institutions in the Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice.

The Max Planck Society offers all scientists the opportunity to receive confidential advice in situations of potential conflict or ambiguity to ensure the implementation of good scientific practice.

If you encounter such a situation, please get in touch with the Ombudsperson at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.