Ethics

COSIMA Code of Ethics

Five ethical principles form the foundation of COSIMA:

Integrity, Trust, Collaboration, Clarity, Fairness.

We expect these principles to be honored by everyone who officially or informally participates in or benefits from COSIMA. The fundamentals of each principle is outlined below. People are expected to follow this code in spirit as much as in letter.

Integrity:

Integrity is the soul of science. It takes a life-time to earn and a moment to lose. We will demonstrate sound moral principles, always acting with honor and truthfulness. We will be honest in presenting goals and intentions, in reporting methods and procedures, and in conveying interpretations1.

Trust:

Just as with integrity, trust is tough to earn yet easy to lose. Trust strengthens and enhances any consortia2. COSIMA fundamentally relies on the integrity and trustworthiness of its members.

An environment of trust3 and integrity allows members to

  • Know that they are safe to express new ideas, ideas others may disagree with and ideas that may make them vulnerable;
  • Seek reliable information before entertaining negative assumptions;
  • Do what they say and say what they will do;
  • Tolerate conflict enough to resolve it.

Collaboration:

COSIMA exists to reap the benefits of collaboration. Collaboration reduces redundancy and improves the quality of our work4. Collaboration allows for synergy to produce novel and unexpected science that pushes back the envelope of understanding. Internally and externally, we celebrate good collaboration.

“What we produce is a complex whole made of many parts, it is the sum of many dreams. Collaboration between teams that each have their own goal and vision is essential; for the whole to be more than the sum of its parts, each part must make an effort to understand the whole” (Ubunto Code of Conduct5).

Clarity:

We are committed to having coherent and explicit communication between team members. We understand that having clearly specified roles for team members is the key to achieving scientific goals6.

In pursuit of our scientific goals, COSIMA team members will

  • Ensure research methods and results are open to scrutiny and debate.
  • Aim to work transparently and involve interested parties as early as possible.
  • Encourage a research culture that is innovative, open and transparent.
  • Declare any potential, perceived, or actual conflicts of interest.

Fairness:

We are committed to objective, unbiased, inclusive and equitable actions. All members of the COSIMA community have a right to expect, and a duty to give fair treatment to others. Fair treatment includes offering collaborative research roles to

  • People who contributed to the conception or design of the work
  • People who undertake model development essential to the research
  • People who acquired, analyzed or interpreted data for the research

Appropriate acknowledgement of the role of others in research is always expected7.

References:

  1. http://www.esf.org/coordinating-research/mo-fora/research-integrity.html
  2. Sarkar, M., Aulakh, P., and Taner Cavusgil, S. The strategic role of relational bonding in interorganizational collaborations. An empirical study of the global construction industry. Journal of International Management, 4(2) 85-107, 1998.
  3. http://www.sherbrookeconsulting.com/Trust.pdf
  4. Sonnenwald, D. Scientific Collaboration. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 41(1) 643-681, 2007.
  5. http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu/conduct
  6. https://hbr.org/2007/11/eight-ways-to-build-collaborative-teams
  7. http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html