Board for Good Research Practice (GSF)

According to the Act (2019:504) on Responsibility for Good Research Practice and the Examination of Research Misconduct, researchers are responsible for following good research practice in their research.

The board's primary tasks are to provide advice and work proactively on issues relating to good research practice at SLU, and to act as a contact point for the Swedish National Board for Assessment of Research Misconduct (Npof) and forward cases of suspected research misconduct to them.

The act defines research misconduct as a 'serious deviation from good research practice in the form of fabrication, falsification or plagiarism that is committed intentionally or through gross negligence when planning, conducting or reporting research'. SLU’s Board for Good Research Practice is not a judicial body that decides what constitutes misconduct, or who is guilty of it.  However, according to the Act on Responsibility for Good Research Practice, the board is obligated to refer cases of suspected research misconduct to Npof.

To determine whether something constitutes misconduct, and to be able to hand over material and documentation to Npof, it is usually necessary to carry out some form of investigation. In its assessment of suspected research misconduct, GSF takes as its starting point the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity from All European Academics (ALLEA) and the Swedish Research Council’s publication Good Research Practice. 

Other cases of suspected research misconduct, that is cases not covered by the legal definition, will be handled by SLU based on the details of each case.

The Board for Good Research Practice has one member and one deputy from each faculty, plus one external member. Members are appointed for three years. The board is chaired by Pro Vice-Chancellor Ylva Hillbur.

Members and deputies:

• LTV Faculty: Thomas Randrup (member), Rickard Ignell (deputy)
• NJ Faculty: Sara Hallin (member), Anna Gårdmark (deputy)
• S Faculty: Marie-Charlotte Nilsson Hegethorn (member), Bengt Kriström (deputy)
• VH Faculty: Göran Andersson (member), Linda Keeling (deputy)
• External member: Torbjörn Ingvarsson, Uppsala University
  
  

For questions on good research practice, please contact gsf@slu.se. You can also contact one of the board members. For concrete cases where research misconduct is suspected, you can either contact the Board for Good Research Practice or turn directly to Npof, the Swedish National Board for Assessment of Research Misconduct. Npof will usually require an investigation or other supporting documents to process a case.