Responsible supervision

Research institutions, supervisors, and mentors have an important role when it comes to research integrity. Responsible supervision and mentorship is necessary to ensure responsible socialization of supervisees into research, as well as to foster responsible research practices. Supervisors and mentors can benefit from support from their research institutions in providing responsible supervision and mentorship. This guideline presents a set of recommendations to research institutions on improving their institutional supervision structures and giving support to supervisors in developing their supervision skills. The guideline consists of recommendations on improving institutional support structures for supervisors, providing supervisors with necessary knowledge, training and support, and rewarding supervision in the evaluation and assessment of researchers. The guideline provides information relevant for research officers, trainers, managers, and coordinators, as well as deans, rectors and other institutional leaders. Given the broad diversity that exists among research institutions, it is possible that some recommendations are not applicable in all research settings. For this reason, the guideline should not be seen as a ‘one-size-fits-all’, but rather as a tool that can be used flexibly and adapted to meet institutions’ specific needs.