Universities and independent research institutes shall formulate rules of good scientific practice in a discussion and decision process involving their academic members. These rules shall be made known to, and shall be binding for, all members of each institution. They shall be a constituent part of teaching curricula and of the education of young scientists and scholars.


When, therefore, universities and research institutes formulate binding rules of good scientific practice, they must base them on a consensus of their academic members through the involvement of a corporate body of academic self-government.

Young scientists and scholars can only acquire a firm foundation for assuming their personal responsibility if their more experienced superiors observe such rules of conduct in their own work that allow them to act as role models, and if they have sufficient opportunity to discuss the rules of good scientific practice including their ethical aspects in the widest sense. The principles and practicalities of good scientific practice should therefore be an integral part of academic teaching and of the research training of graduate students.

–> 4.2 Organizational Structure