ACTA is responsible for safeguarding scientific integrity in its academic education, research, and community service. As a scientist, you may encounter situations in which scientific integrity plays a role, such as:
- Disagreements over the order of authorship;
- Colleagues who copy your work without citing you;
- Catching a colleague making careless mistakes;
- You are unjustly omitted from a publication.
About the Confidential Advisor
The Scientific Integrity Confidential Advisor (VPI) serves as the point of contact for questions regarding research integrity in education, research, and community service within ACTA. He or she assists a reporter/complainant, a respondent, or someone who may potentially become a complainant or respondent. In doing so, he or she acts in the best interests of the person who has turned to him or her for help. This may also include someone from another faculty or someone from outside the organization.
The VPI can help navigate all kinds of dilemmas, mediate between two parties, or advise on filing a complaint. The VPI’s report on their activities to the Executive Board in an annual joint report, which provides a general overview of the cases handled and the activities carried out.
