EATSA’S FOUNDING ACT

TAIPEI STATEMENT ON RESEARCH INTEGRITY IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY 

Tourism and Hospitality sectors are integrating parts of the global processes that shape the modern world. These global processes are better addressed and investigated by collaborative networks of researchers covering many different countries. In this context, the increasingly international and interdisciplinary nature of the Tourism and Hospitality research projects and programmes have created many opportunities. These opportunities are accompanied by a variety of challenges including how to strengthen the principles and standards governing the conduct of Tourism and Hospitality research when researchers across disciplines and around the globe do not necessarily share the same paradigms, cultures, and values.

The EATSA – Euro-Asia Tourism Studies Association is committed with the best practices in Tourism and Hospitality research, in order to ensure the higher standards of international cooperation, aiming to bolster the scientific knowledge in Tourism and Hospitality domain and to avoid any kind of misconduct.

The members of EATSA should agree to conduct their research according to the same standards of research integrity, while respecting the laws and sovereignty of the States of all participating parties. In funded international projects the promotion of good practice and the handling of possible cases of misconduct, as recommended by the coordinating committee of the OECD Global Science Forum, should be followed.

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity are adopted as the normative documents of the EATSA’s Founding Act, which will support the collaborative networking of its members on the basis of the following principles:

1. Integrity: Researchers should take responsibility for the trustworthiness of their research.
2. Honesty in presenting research goals and intentions, in precise and nuanced reporting on research methods and procedures, and in conveying valid interpretations and justifiable claims with respect to possible applications of research results.
3. Reliability in performing research (meticulous, careful and attentive to detail), and in communication of the results (fair and full and unbiased reporting).
4. Objectivity: interpretations and conclusions must be founded on facts and data capable of proof and secondary review; there should be transparency in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and verifiability of the scientific reasoning.
5. Adherence to Regulations: Researchers should be aware of and adhere to regulations and policies related to research.
6. Research Methods: Researchers should employ appropriate research methods, base conclusions on critical analysis of the evidence and report findings and interpretations fully and objectively.
7. Research Records: Researchers should keep clear, accurate records of all research in ways that will allow verification and replication of their work by others.
8. Research Findings: Researchers should share data and findings openly and promptly, as soon as they have had an opportunity to establish priority and ownership claims.
9. Authorship: Researchers should take responsibility for their contributions to all publications, funding applications, reports and other representations of their research. Lists of authors should include all those and only those who meet applicable authorship criteria.
10. Publication Acknowledgement: Researchers should acknowledge in publications the names and roles of those who made significant contributions to the research, including writers, funders, sponsors, and others, but do not meet authorship criteria.
11. Peer Review: Researchers should provide fair, prompt and rigorous evaluations and respect confidentiality when reviewing others” work.
12. Conflict of Interest: Researchers should disclose financial and other conflicts of interest that could compromise the trustworthiness of their work in research proposals, publications and public communications as well as in all review activities.
13. Societal Considerations: Researchers and research institutions should recognize that they have an ethical obligation to weigh societal benefits against risks inherent in their work.
14. Responsibility for future science generations. The education of young scientists and scholars requires binding standards for mentorship and supervision. In addition, we recognise that research should always be designed and conducted in accordance with all the previous ethical principles, and with appropriate review processes in place to ensure this.

Additionally, to support and promote integrity in research publication, EATSA fully endorse the position statements for editors and authors that were developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity in Singapore in 2010:

Position Statement 1: International Standards for Editors

Kleinert S & Wager E (2011) Responsible research publication: international standards for editors. A position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010. Chapter 51 in: Mayer T & Steneck N (eds) Promoting Research Integrity in a Global Environment. Imperial College Press / World Scientific Publishing, Singapore (pp 317-28). (ISBN 978-981-4340-97-7).

Free access in the following website:  http://www.oeawi.at/downloads/International%20standard_editors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011.pdf

Position Statement 2: International Standards for Authors.

Wager E & Kleinert S, (2011). Responsible research publication: international standards for authors. A position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010. Chapter 50 in: Mayer T & Steneck N (eds) Promoting Research Integrity in a Global Environment. Imperial College Press / World Scientific Publishing, Singapore (pp 309-16). (ISBN 978-981-4340-97-7)).

Free access in the following website: http://publicationethics.org/files/International%20standards_authors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011.pdf

The Taipei Statement on Research Integrity in Tourism and Hospitality was developed as part of the Inaugural Conference of the Euro-Asia Tourism Studies Association, 7-11 June 2015, as the guide to the responsible conduct of individual members of EATSA, and as a normative framework of EATSA’s Direction Board. Although it is not a regulatory document and does not represent the official policies of the countries and organizations that are represented in EATSA, it works as a memorandum of understanding for the relationship between EATSA and its institutional members.

For official policies, guidance, and regulations relating to research integrity, appropriate national bodies and organizations should be consulted.

This document, entitled “Taipei Statement on Research Integrity in Tourism and Hospitality”, represents the EATSA’s Founding Act and must be published in the EATSA website (www.eatsa.byd.pl).

This declaration was presented at the General Meeting of the Euro-Asia Tourism Studies Association (EATSA) that took place in the Fu-Jen University, Xin-Zhuang, New Taipei, Taiwan, on June 9th, 2015, and carried unanimously as its EATSA FOUNDING ACT by the following members: