11 Ethics and Compliance

FORRT is committed to upholding high standards of ethical conduct in all aspects of its work—whether producing educational materials, conducting research, mentoring contributors, or engaging with the broader open science community. This chapter outlines the ethical domains relevant to FORRT, our core principles, and our practices for managing risks, resolving conflicts, and ensuring compliance across projects.

11.1 Ethical Domains Relevant to FORRT

Based on our mission and collaborative structure, FORRT recognizes the following ethical domains:

1. Human Participation and Volunteer Contributions
   • Respecting the dignity, consent, and wellbeing of all contributors, participants, and collaborators
   • Ensuring that all involvement is voluntary and that contributors may step back at any time without penalty
   • Promoting equity and transparency in roles, recognition, and authorship
2. Data Protection and Privacy
   • Handling survey responses, feedback, or user data in line with GDPR and other relevant data protection laws
   • Ensuring informed consent when collecting any personal data
   • Storing data securely and restricting access as necessary
3. Research Integrity
   • Upholding principles of rigor, transparency, and reproducibility
   • Avoiding plagiarism, misrepresentation, and uncredited use of others’ work
   • Complying with the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA)
4. Inclusion, Diversity, and Accessibility
   • Integrating inclusive practices into both project design and outputs
   • Supporting the participation of underrepresented and marginalized groups
   • Designing resources that meet accessibility standards
5. Technology Ethics (including AI)
   • Ensuring any use of tools like AI is transparent, documented, and non-exploitative
   • Avoiding tools that introduce bias, risk harm, or compromise ethical norms
   • [INSERT LINK to forthcoming FORRT AI/Tech use guidance if applicable]

[OPEN QUESTION: Should FORRT introduce lightweight ethics impact checklists for new projects (e.g., data collected, accessibility, inclusion)?]

11.2 Code of Conduct and Ethical Governance

All contributors are expected to follow FORRT’s [Code of Conduct – INSERT LINK], which outlines community values, respectful behavior, and procedures for addressing concerns.

11.2.1 Oversight

• Team Ethics coordinates the ongoing review and refinement of FORRT’s ethical policies.
• Ethical questions can also be directed to the Steering Council.
• In cases of complex or high-risk decisions (e.g., external data collection, sensitive collaboration), project leads are encouraged to consult with both.

11.3 Informed Consent and Data Management

Any project that collects data from participants (e.g., surveys, interviews, usage analytics) must: - Obtain clear, documented informed consent - Specify how the data will be used, stored, and shared - Provide contact information for withdrawal or questions

Data Management Plans (DMPs) should be developed using FORRT’s template:
[INSERT LINK TO DMP TEMPLATE]

11.4 Conflict Resolution

FORRT fosters open communication and constructive disagreement. Should conflict arise within or across teams, the following steps apply:

1. Attempt informal resolution via direct discussion
2. Escalate to the team lead(s) for mediation
3. If unresolved, contact the Steering Council or Team Ethics for facilitation

Where appropriate, community-wide learning may be shared from resolved conflicts (anonymously and respectfully).

[OPEN QUESTION: Should FORRT introduce a short conflict resolution protocol or training for team leads?]

11.5 Risk Management

While FORRT is not a formal funder-led consortium, we still anticipate and manage project risks. Risks may include: - Loss of momentum or contributor burnout - Conflict over authorship or project scope - Failure to meet accessibility or diversity goals - Ethical issues with data or technology

Each team lead is encouraged to: - Identify key risks when initiating new projects - Revisit risks quarterly (e.g., using a lightweight Risk Matrix) - Log challenges and mitigations for future learning

A template and examples are available here:
[INSERT LINK TO RISK MATRIX TEMPLATE]

[OPEN QUESTION: Should the Steering Council maintain a shared log of lessons learned from cross-team risks and solutions?]

11.6 Responsible Research Practices

FORRT endorses and promotes: - Transparency in methods, sources, and decision-making - Shared ownership and fair attribution (see CRediT roles guidance) - Reuse and citation of open-access materials - Engagement with open science pedagogies and evidence-based teaching

Projects that involve academic research should be registered (e.g., on OSF), pre-registered when applicable, and submitted to ethics review (institutional or community-based) if involving human participants or sensitive data.

[INSERT LINK TO RESEARCH ETHICS CHECKLIST]

11.7 Environmental Responsibility

While FORRT does not organize regular in-person events, we are committed to minimizing our environmental impact: - Preference for remote collaboration - Use of digital documents over printing - Promotion of sustainable practices in any event planning

[OPEN QUESTION: Should FORRT develop an informal sustainability guideline for funded events or print-based outputs?]

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Ethics is not a static document—it’s a living commitment. All FORRT contributors are invited to co-develop, challenge, and improve our practices to ensure that we model the values we hope to instill in science education.

[INSERT LINKS: Code of Conduct, DMP template, CRediT roles, Risk Matrix, Ethics resources]