This is a list of short summaries of advisory opinions. The list also includes decisions. In these cases, LOWI has declared the petition inadmissible. It has therefore not examined the substance of the petition and has not issued an advisory opinion.
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The full text of the advisory opinion is only available in Dutch. If you want to read the full text in English, you can use the Dutch text for translation purposes.
- Advisory opinion 2024-21This case concerned research commissioned by a government body. The LOWI advised that the complaint should be declared inadmissible on the grounds of the complainant’s breach of the duty of confidentiality.
- Advisory opinion 2024-20This case concerned a complaint about an RIVM factsheet. Standards set in the Code of Conduct apply only insofar as can reasonably be required. The wording of the factsheet was not found to have been compiled without due care.
- Advisory opinion 2024-19An application for a Veni grant was not found to contain plagiarism of either text or ideas. Researchers who are the subject of a complaint may disclose information to their supervisors in confidence. This should not be prevented by the duty of confidentiality.
- Decision 2024-18A petition submitted after the deadline was found to be inadmissible. LOWI endorsed the advice of the RIC (needless to say). This case related to the appointment of a professor. The Code of Conduct is not applicable to such matters.
- Advisory opinions 2024-15, 2024-16 and 2024-17A conflict between a PhD candidate (in medicine) and a project group led to a complaint being submitted by each party. While the LOWI regarded two elements of the project group’s complaint about the PhD candidate (regarding authorship) as well-founded and constituting questionable conduct, it did not regard them as a breach of research integrity. ...
- Advisory opinion 2024-14This case, involving a question of authorship and the course of events surrounding a PhD track, was declared unfounded.
- Advisory opinions 2024-12 and 2024-13Decisions by a Faculty Ethical Review Committee do not fall within the scope of the Code of Conduct. While such decisions have consequences for academic research, they do not in themselves constitute part of academic practice. Similarly, the administrative action taken by the dean did not fall within the scope of the Code of Conduct.
- Advisory opinion 2024-11This case concerned a complaint about research into the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The LOWI’s advisory opinion differed substantially from the RIC’s advice because of additional information regarding the establishing of the facts. On more principle-based grounds, too, the LOWI’s advisory opinion deviated from that of the RIC because the LOWI categorised several aspects of the complaint ...
- Advisory opinion 2024-10The complaint in this case was found not to have been handled with due care. The confidential adviser’s responsibilities were found to be insufficiently separate from those of the Scientific Integrity Complaints Procedure (RIC). The principle of hearing both sides of the argument failed, incorrectly, to be applied. The LOWI advised that the complaint should ...
- Advisory opinions 2024-08 and 2024-09A report commissioned by a commercial party was found to accord with the standards of research integrity. The complaints procedure is not the appropriate means for criticising research quality. No serious grounds for hearing the parties separately were found. The parties were wrongly not given the opportunity to respond to the committee’s report on the ...