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Integrity in Science

Ethics:

CIDESD’s research plan activities address several ethical considerations. The center acknowledges the critical importance of upholding ethical standards in sport, health, and exercise science research. It is expected that all CIDESD members adhere to the highest standards of conduct, with all procedures subject to approval by one of the Ethical Committees of the CIDESD consortium Institutions.

The ethical foundation for all research conducted within CIDESD is outlined in several key documents:

– The Declaration of Helsinki, which provides guidelines for biomedical research involving human subjects as recommended by the World Medical Assembly.

– The policy statement of the American College of Sports Medicine regarding the use of human subjects and informed consent.

– The position of the British Association for Sport and Exercise Science.

– Ethical standards for science research and EU recommendations as articulated in documents such as “Ethics for Researchers: Facilitating Research Excellence in FP7” by Pauwels (2007) (https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/fp7/89888/ethics-for-researchers_en.pdf).

– The Belmont Report by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.

In accordance with these documents, certain research conducted at CIDESD may involve human participants and physical interventions. Characteristics of the subjects are directly related to the research objectives, with all participants volunteering and providing informed consent. In cases where participants are unable to provide consent, consent is obtained from their legal guardians. Additionally, invasive techniques for data collection are employed while strictly adhering to national and international standards, including the Declaration of Helsinki and the Belmont Report, as well as any relevant field-specific regulations.

Moreover, all human cells or tissues used in CIDESD research are obtained either within the project or from other projects, laboratories, or institutions, with no use of commercially available sources or biobanks.

Further, CIDESD places significant emphasis on protecting personal data to safeguard the rights, privacy, and confidentiality of research participants. This is achieved through strict adherence to procedures such as anonymization, security measures, data minimization, confidentiality safeguards, and appropriate data retention and disposal practices. Genetic information is not processed within the scope of CIDESD research activities. While tracking and observation of participants are integral to several research endeavors, particularly in sports performance-related studies, any further processing of previously collected personal data for secondary use is conducted with due consideration for ethical standards.

CIDESD is dedicated to conducting research that respects the rights, dignity, and well-being of individuals and communities. By upholding ethical standards, CIDESD ensures that research activities are characterized by integrity, transparency, and accountability, thus contributing to the generation of reliable knowledge that can address pressing social issues and enhance the quality of life for individuals and communities.

Integrity, equity and inclusiveness

The University of Beira Interior (UBI) as the main Management Institution of CIDESD has implemented a set of initiatives, instruments, and structures for the promotion of the best and healthiest environment for the development of research activities, which rely on the values and principles of research integrity, equity and inclusiveness, namely: i) The Commission for Equality (CI-UBI) and the Gender Equality Plan. UBI was a pioneer among Portuguese higher education institutions in developing and implementing a Gender Equality Plan, which exists since 2011, as well as having a CI-UBI. The CI-UBI is a consultative body aiming to promote and guarantee equal opportunities and the dignity and integrity of the human person in work, teaching, and research activities, particularly with regard to gender non-discrimination, protection of parenthood, reconciliation of men’s and women’s professional, personal and family lives and family lives, and combating forms of gender violence; ii) The UBI’s Code of Integrity, in effect since 2018; iii) The Whistleblowing channel in line with the national legislation, namely the General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption (RGPC) and the General Regime for the Protection of Whistleblowers (RGPDI). With this tool, the academy aims to prevent and eliminate possible practical misconduct harmful to the entire academic community, such as corruption, fraud, abuse of power, moral and sexual harassment, or any other type of infraction of the UBI Code of Integrity; iv) The UBI’s Institutional Repository, uBibliorum, gathers, divulges, and preserves the whole scientific production of the University and its research units, whenever possible according to the FAIR principles; v) The UBI commitment to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which provides a set of fundamental principles to which UBI is attentive, regularly disseminating them at all stages of the creative and research process, namely through systematic awareness-raising initiatives on integrity and plagiarism, addressed to the UBI community.