An analysis of functional relationships between systemic conditions and unethical behavior in German academia

This paper is an updated English version of a report filed by a commission that the German Psychological Society (DGPs) appointed in 2022. The commission’s task was a) to identify factors in the academic system that enable and/or promote unethical behavior, and b) to propose corrective measures. Based on expert interviews, a literature review, feedback from the community, and discussions within the commission, the following problematic issues were identified: (P1) negligent or fraudulent research practices, (P2) abuse of power, (P3) inadequate supervision of Early Career Researchers, (P4) poor quality of teaching, (P5) counterproductive incentives, (P6) overburdening of professors with tasks, (P7) fixed-term and short-term employment, (P8) unnecessarily strong power imbalance, (P9) an ineffective peer-review system, (P10) questionable assessment practices in hiring professors, (P11) lack of clarity of, and low commitment to, ethical standards, and (P12) weak control and sanctioning mechanisms. The commission offers concrete recommendations for changes to the academic system that should make the occurrence of unethical behavior less likely. Even though some of these recommendations might be rather specific for the field of psychology and for the German academic system, most of them may be valid for science in general.