European Science Foundation (ESF) and All European Academies Organization (ALLEA) has recently drafted the Code of Conduct for scientific integrity. The Code is not a body of law. It is not intended to have a legal character, order but rather to be a canon for self regulation. It is a basic responsibility of the scientific community to formulate the principles and virtues of scientific and scholarly research, medicine to define its criteria for proper research behaviour, and to set its own house in order in case scientific integrity is threatened.
It is generally acknowledged that science as the process of knowledge augmentation is embedded in a wider socio-ethical context, and that scientists have to be aware of their specific responsibility towards society and the welfare of mankind. They bear responsibility for the choice of subjects to be investigated and its consequences, for proper care and treatment concerning the objects of research, and attention and concern with respect to practical applications and use of their research results. In this Code, however, we confine ourselves to standards of integrity while conducting research, and leave this wider socio-ethical responsibility out of consideration.
You can consult the draft here.
