SIMPLIFY · Supporting institutions in managing procedures for lasting ethics and integrity frameworks and policy regulations

In the European Research Area, research activities are considered to be practices that respect human dignity, with researchers, ethics committees and ombudspersons playing an active role in protecting research participants. These activities must comply with the rules of good scientific practice and demonstrate clear responsibility towards society and the environment.Despite the existence of comprehensive ethical guidelines from the EU, the Council of Europe and international organisations (e.g. the WHO and the ICH), as well as various standard operating procedures (SOPs) and codes of conduct developed in EU-funded projects, research institutions and funding organisations often have difficulty implementing these effectively. Additionally, EU Member States are at different stages in the creation of their own guidelines, resulting in a fragmented landscape of standards and norms. These differences make it challenging to adapt guidelines to emerging issues such as digital and green transformation, trustworthy AI and reforming ethics reviews, all while safeguarding academic freedom.SIMPLIFY addresses this issue by promoting the effective implementation and operational simplification of research ethics (RE) and research integrity (RI) across Europe, in line with the overarching ethical objectives of ERA policy, through a sustainable, community-oriented approach. Through participatory co-design, ethical reflection and stakeholder involvement, SIMPLIFY will transform existing RE/RI instruments into adaptable, context-sensitive RE&RI roadmaps. These roadmaps will support institutions in integrating RE/RI standards into their daily practice by providing them with modular, tested and validated resources. To this end, cooperation and practice-oriented information exchange within existing European networks (particularly EUREC, ENRIO, ENERI, ENAI, EARMA, ALLEA) will be promoted and expanded upon, utilising existing exchange platforms such as The Embassy and the ENERI Classroom.