Good citizenship is key to ensure the responsible conduct of research at higher education institutions.

“When we talk about responsible conduct of research, what we really talking about is a form of good citizenship, as it is applied to our professional lives as academics,” says Prof Anne Pope, who was the key speaker at the recent CPUT Ethics Day.

Pope, who is an academic at the University of Cape Town says when good citizenship is practiced in a research context, it requires researchers to report on their work honestly, accurately, efficiently and objectively.

It also requires researchers to not waste funds, be accountable, look after resources as well as share their knowledge with others.

Pope says qualities such as honesty, accuracy and, efficiency are inherent to professional conduct and that there is no excuse for any researcher to not act professionally.

“High standards and expectation ought to be the norm. It is not ok to promote mediocrity because it does not further the intellectual knowledge base,” she says.

Pope also urged institutions to support researchers by providing them with sound infrastructure and knowledgeable administrative support.