Formulating guidelines on "Good Scientific Practice" has been a major concern at the Medical Faculty of Vienna University for a long time. Counselling and expert appraisal of clinical and experimental research projects by the ethics committee at the Faculty, which was established 20 years ago and is flanked by an animal experiments committee for the same period of time, are by far not adequate. In the meantime the ethics committee has to process more than 300 projects per year. Therefore, counselling on fundamental ethical issues and their adherence perforce exceed the committee’s capacity. This is further aggravated by the increasing number of international errors of performance in science and even frauds reported in scientific media and occasionally even in mass media. Regrettably, the management at universities is increasingly confronted with clashes of interests such as double publication, unjustified authorships and plagiarism.

The purpose of the present booklet which has been produced in cooperation with a number of renowned representatives of the Medical Faculty of Vienna University and is oriented towards international examples, is to assist scientists in documenting scientific data in an ethical manner, compiling the data into a publication, and also includes details about publication criteria. The new Medical University of Vienna as well as the currently existing Medical Faculty wish to impose upon themselves a code of honour whose maintenance will also enhance the reputation of its scientists and teachers when they publish their data. However, only when violations of the guidelines mentioned in this booklet are countered by effective consequences will their principal goal be achieved.

May the guidelines of Ethics in Science and Research serve as a source of information as well as a permanent reminder of appropriate scientific behaviour!

Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schütz
Rector of the Medical University of Vienna

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