The Canadian Research Integrity Committee CRIC

1
The Canadian Research Integrity Committee (CRIC)

• A presentation to the Association of Faculties of
  Medicine of Canada Board of Directors
• November 14, 2008

2
Purpose of the Presentation

• History of the CRIC
• 2007 Workshop on Research Integrity
• CRIC Research Proposal

3
History of the CRIC

• In June 2006, the Office of the Chief Scientist
  at Health Canada hosted a meeting of key
  organizations representing the Canadian health
  research community to discuss issues of
  scientific integrity and misconduct.
• It was agreed that a formal committee be
  established to develop an approach to research
  integrity/misconduct for the Canadian research
  community.

4
CRIC History (continued)

• The CRIC also aims to assist organizations,
  individual scientists and researchers in the
  avoidance and resolution of instances of research
  misconduct.
• The Committee is comprised of representatives of
  senior management from organizations in Canada
  concerned with research.

5
CRIC Workshop on Research Integrity

• Held in January 2007, this event engaged
  approximately 90 participants from across
  Canada's research community in discussions
  dealing with research misconduct and promoting
  research integrity.
• International experts from Norway, Denmark and
  the United States provided a comparative
  perspective.

6
Workshop (continued)

• At the workshop, there was consensus that Canada
  needs to do better in addressing research
  misconduct and promoting research integrity
  across the country.
• A need was identified for definitions, standards
  and guidelines that would be applied across the
  country.
• Participants also called for the CRIC to continue
  its leadership role by taking the results of the
  workshop forward to address the issues and needs
  that were raised in the form of a national
  project.

7
CRIC Research Proposal

• In late 2007, CRIC members agreed to raise the
  necessary finances to develop and issue a
  contract to undertake a policy review of Canadian
  and foreign research integrity policies and to
  identify and assess potential models for a
  pan-Canadian research integrity/misconduct
  system.

8
Research Proposal (continued)

• The objective of the study is to undertake a
  comprehensive analysis and produce a research
  report of representative existing research
  integrity policies employed in Canada by
  universities and colleges, research institutes,
  hospitals/health authorities, funding bodies and
  government departments and agencies.
• The research report will identify the
  commonalities, differences, strengths and
  weaknesses of these policies and best practices.

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Research Proposal (continued)

• The study will include a comparative analysis of
  similar research integrity policies employed in
  advanced countries with membership in the
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
  Development (OECD).
• The study will also describe the current
  prevalence of research integrity and misconduct
  in Canada.

10
Next Steps

• Upon receiving the study, the CRIC would
• Disseminate the results of the research
• Identify options on possible approaches to
  scientific integrity for Canada
• Encourage stakeholders to take steps to foster
  scientific integrity.

11
Health Canadas Perspective

• Health Canada involvement in the CRIC stems from
  its roles as a national leader in health and
  science policy.
• Health Canadas involvement also stems from its
  role as a science and research-based department.
• Health Canada faces different research integrity
  challenges than universities
• Health Canada must link its research work to its
  mandate.
• Health Canada must maintain public trust and
  accountability.

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Health Canadas Perspective (continued)

• In addition to involvement in the CRIC and the
  CRIC research proposal, Health Canada is taking
  other steps to strengthen research integrity in
  the department.
• Health Canada is currently developing a
  scientific integrity framework for the department
  that will address any gaps in the oversight of
  the research being conducted at Health Canada.

13
Thank you