Institutionalisering af ansvarlig forskningspraksis i professionshøjskole­ sektoren

Resumé

Over the latest decade ‘research integrity’ has become a major theme on the Danish research policy agenda. However, the national initiatives are broad and abstract and require specific organizational translations. Hence, in this study we ask how the university college sector has responded to the increasing political demands of organizational research integrity policies based on a theoretical framework focusing on organizational translation. The framework highlights that policies seldom are implemented straightforward in classical top down processes, but rather are translated and adjusted selectively to specific organizational contexts in complex and dynamic processes. In an empirical analysis of two selected Danish university colleges we then show that the implementation processes not only have required years of preparation but also have unfolded quite differently across the two organizations. Overall, we find that elements related to explicit requirements and risks of sanctions appear to have been prioritized over more culture-oriented efforts. Based on these findings we discuss challenges and dilemmas in coping with research integrity within the university college sector and round off by highlighting future potentials related to the broader ‘Responsible research and innovation’ agenda.