Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.02
Liaison Maxine Dandois-Fafard
Submission Date Nov. 10, 2023

STARS v2.2

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)
IN-1: Academy-Industry Connections

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Karine Souffez
Director
Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Support Department
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution require that all significant consulting contracts be reported to a standing committee charged with reviewing and managing individual and institutional conflicts of interest?:
Yes

The policy language that requires that all significant consulting contracts be reviewed for conflicts of interest:
Regulation respecting the exercise of powers (https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads/REG-09-Exercice-Pouvoirs-VFP.pdf) stipulates:
3.2. RESEARCH CONTRACTS OR CONTRACTS TO PROMOTE RESEARCH RESULTS
Any contract related to research or the commercialization of research results, regardless of the amount, must be assessed using the Risk Assessment Tool by staff members involved in the negotiation and development of the contract. If this analysis reveals a high or critical level of risk, it must be automatically submitted for review to the senior executive committee, which determines whether the contract should be further assessed by the audit committee and approved by the Board.

Does the institution prohibit faculty, staff, students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, and other academic professionals from engaging in industry-led “ghostwriting” or “ghost authorship”?:
Yes

The policy language that prohibits industry-led “ghostwriting” or “ghost authorship”:
Although there is no written prohibition per se, the INRS scientific community, including faculty, cannot agree with an industry to write anonymously, and here are the reasons why:

1) Faculty members have exclusivity of service within INRS, in accordance with the terms of the current Collective Agreement (https://inrs.ca/offres-d-emploi/conventions-collectives/):
28. EXCLUSIVE SERVICE / 28.1 The Professor is considered to be a professional in the exclusive service of INRS: a) the Professor's primary responsibility, which derives from his or her employment relationship with INRS, is to fully exercise his or her academic function and to assume his or her duties as determined in accordance with the Professional Activities provided for in Article 9; b) within this framework, the Professor may carry out Professional Activities in the service of third parties as long as these activities are part of the duties recognized in accordance with Clause 11. 14, within the framework of INRS' mission; c) for a certain number of professional activities, listed in Appendix A [Participation in a radio or television program; Invited participation in a conference, seminar or symposium; Correction of a thesis or dissertation for a student registered at another university; Expert witness before a civil, administrative or criminal court], the income belongs to the Professor. d) the annual amount of income from all outside activities, including those listed in Appendix A, may not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the Professor's annual salary; e) personal Professional Activities are carried out outside this framework and independently of INRS. In this case, the Professor may not compete with the activities of INRS, use the name of INRS, or use the human, material and computer resources of INRS in carrying out this activity; f) moreover, in keeping with his or her duty of loyalty to INRS, the Professor may not use information gathered in the course of his or her activities at INRS to derive pecuniary or personal benefits from third parties; g) Personal Professional Activities are not subject to any recognition under clause 11. 14; h) Personal Professional Activities generating any financial compensation, direct or otherwise, are normally prohibited for Professors. However, they may exceptionally be carried out in the service of third parties if the Professor is authorized to do so, in writing, by the Director of Research and Academic Affairs. The Center Director periodically informs the Board of Professors of such requests.

2) All research contracts must be authorized and signed by an executive; no faculty member or research support staff is an "authorized signatory" under the Regulation respecting the exercise of powers (see Table of jurisdictions in Appendix A, in: https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads/REG-09-Exercice-Pouvoirs-VFP.pdf).

3) INRS has notably adopted and implements a Code of Ethics (https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads/POL-Code-Ethique-VFP.pdf) and a Research Integrity Policy (https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads//2020/06/POL-Integrite-Recherche-VFP.pdf). In particular, faculty members are expected to apply best research practices honestly, responsibly, openly and fairly in the course of their work.
Research Integrity Policy:
5.2.1 Promoting integrity in research / The Persons concerned must apply best research practices honestly, responsibly, openly and fairly when seeking and disseminating knowledge. In addition, they must respect the requirements of Normative Documents and applicable professional or disciplinary standards, and comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Code of Ethics:
II. Honesty and Transparency INRS expects members of the INRS Community to be honest, sincere and transparent in their actions. Community members shall not intentionally mislead or knowingly provide false information to anyone. III. Integrity INRS expects members of the INRS Community to behave in a professional manner that respects fundamental ethical and moral standards. Their actions must be beyond reproach and members must avoid any inappropriate behavior or appearance of inappropriate behavior.

Does the institution prohibit participation in sponsored research that restricts investigator access to the complete study data or that limits investigators’ ability to verify the accuracy and validity of final reported results?:
Yes

The policy language that prohibits sponsored research that restricts investigator access or verification:
There is no specific prohibition to this effect. However, as noted above, the INRS scientific community, including faculty, has several obligations, including the obligation to apply best research practices honestly, responsibly, openly and fairly in their work. In accordance with the Research Integrity Policy (https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads//2020/06/POL-Integrite-Recherche-VFP.pdf), INRS scientists must:
a)demonstrate a high level of rigour when proposing and carrying out research, recording, analyzing and interpreting data, and reporting and publishing data and results;
b) maintain complete and accurate records of data, methods and results, including graphics and images, in accordance with the applicable funding agreement, Standards Documents, laws and regulations, and professional or disciplinary standards, so as to permit verification or reproduction of the work;
c) provide references and, where appropriate, obtain necessary prior authorization when published and unpublished work is used, including data, original documents, methods, results, graphics and images;
d) present, as authors, with their consent, the persons who have contributed, concretely or conceptually, to the content of the publication or document and who share responsibility for it in accordance with their respective contributions and the authorship policies that apply to the publications concerned;
e) mention, in addition to authors, all persons who have contributed to the research work, including editors, funders and sponsors;
f) appropriately manage any real or apparent Conflict of Interest in accordance with the Code of Ethics for the University Community to ensure that the objectives of the Policy are met.

Does the institution ban confidential corporate research?:
Yes

The policy language that bans confidential corporate research:
The research regulation (https://inrs.ca/wp-content/uploads/REG-03-Recherche-VFP.pdf) specifies that research results should be made publicly available, with reasonable nondisclosure periods that may be required for patent applications or as stipulated in contracts or funding conditions related to the original research. Prohibiting the public dissemination of research results conducted at INRS is not usual. When approved by INRS, the duration and scope of such restrictions should not exceed what is necessary to protect legitimate interests:

4.3 LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE
Research results are disseminated freely, subject to reasonable nondisclosure periods that may be required to file a patent application or that are agreed to in a Contract or that are provided for in the conditions attached to the sources of funding that made the research giving rise to the results possible. When negotiating a contract, efforts are made to preserve publication rights in favour of INRS, the Faculty and the INRS Community. The time limits for non-publication of research results shall not exceed those necessary to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of a contract or of the funding sources from which the results were obtained. No restriction may impede the normal progress of members of the Student and Intern Community, nor delay the awarding of a diploma within the normal timeframe, nor the presentation or publication of an internship report, essay, thesis or dissertation.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s policies regarding industry-sponsored research is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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