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An article by Professor Danny Chan, Director of Education and Development for Research Integrity, HKU
 

Quality science comes from rigour, rigour from responsibility, and responsibility from understanding, with a strong foundation once we understand, practise, and embrace RCR.

Professor Danny Chan
Director of Education and Development for Research Integrity, HKU

The awareness and practice of responsible conduct of research (RCR) is paramount for research postgraduate students to understand at the onset of their candidature in pursuing a master or doctor of philosophy. HKU offers important introductory RCR courses organised by the Graduate School in which all students are required to enrol.  The fundamental principle of RCR is clearly written in the university insignia: Sapientia et Virtus, the Latin motto, aptly translates the spirit of the phrases of our Chinese motto 格物 (gewu) (‘to investigate things’) and 明德 (mingde) ('to manifest virtue'), taken from the Confucian classic The Great Learning and signifying the importance of learning and discovery linked to the moral and intellectual enrichment of human lives.  To put it simply, in the pursuit of knowledge, don’t cheat, don’t lie, and don’t steal. These are basic principles of a fruitful and meaningful life, serving oneself, others, and the community. In research, such malpractices can translate to punishable misconducts involving fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism (FFP). The University has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for these, and the domino effect of such misconducts will be unpleasant and harmful to all stakeholders.   
 
Research should be fun and enjoyable. With the freedom to be creative and innovative, to be curious, and to ask questions that have never been asked before, you will be the first to make the discovery, creating new knowledge that is documented in a publication for all to read.  This can be one of the most powerful, exciting, and fulfilling experiences for a budding researcher.  Sometimes, however, one can unknowingly fall into traps as research becomes ever-more complex, involving more and more collaborators across research laboratories and industrial partners globally, as well as the use of artificial intelligence. Issues with rigour, appropriate research methods, and data storage and sharing can emerge, leading to questionable practices with potential legal implications if left unchecked.  One may argue that with such complexity around rules and regulations, research is no longer fun, with neither the time nor the freedom to think and test ideas. This is not so!  One just needs to be aware and do the right thing.  It is not all that hard.  Quality research comes from rigour, rigour from responsibility, and responsibility from understanding, with a strong foundation once we understand, practise, and embrace RCR. 

The Graduate School has been providing RCR education, in the form of a generic module and a number of stream-based modules, to all new research postgraduate students to get acquainted with the basic knowledge, awareness, and understanding of FFP, authorship, conflict of interest, data management and sharing, and discipline-specific requirements in the handling of personal data and ethical concerns and the need for approval for research involving human subjects and animal models.  These modules, including a talk on key or pressing RCR issues, group discussions and mini-lectures, are a great opportunity to learn, discuss, and make new friends, and to share the joy of knowing and doing the right thing.  We take RCR education seriously at the University and also require all new staff to undertake training and sharing, as different institutions and cultures may have some differences and other points-of-view. Help us to promote this responsible research culture at HKU, and together we will all have meaningful and reproducible discoveries, however small or large.