Research Integrity Symposium "Responsible Research Activities in the Era of Open Science" was held online on Friday, November 21st, 2025. The event was hosted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) together with five other funding agencies. More than 1,400 people from universities and research institutions nationwide preregistered in advance, indicating that there is growing interest in open science and appropriate research data management from the viewpoint of research integrity as well.

This symposium featured lectures on trends in open science, the corresponding latest developments in research data management (RDM) and research assessment reform, the impacts of generative AI and data science on research integrity, and research ethics education in an environment undergoing these changes. The topics discussed included the need for institutions and researchers to work together to build governance, how to ensure research integrity and reproducibility in the AI era, and what roles research institutions will need to play in the future. This report summarizes the key points from each lecture.

Guest Speech and Lecture: "Promoting Activities toward Research Integrity -- The Situations Regarding Research Ethics Education and Research Misconduct, and Other Matters"

Masayuki Sudo (Director of the Office for Research Integrity Promotion, Research Environment Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

In light of the "Guidelines for Responding to Misconduct in Research" enacted in 2014 and the "Act on Revitalization of Science, Technology, and Innovation"--in which research integrity was defined and the responsibilities of researchers, research institutions, and the government were indicated for the first time in Japan in 2018--Mr. Sudo explained the current situation regarding research ethics education and about trends in research misconduct related to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). He also talked about how there are increasing efforts to conduct research ethics education through multiple methods, for example, by adopting lecture-style teaching as well as making use of books, video materials, and e-learning materials such as eAPRIN and eL CoRE.

In the second half of his lecture, after touching on the research integrity promotion project that MEXT is conducting together with JSPS, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Mr. Sudo then introduced recent trends such as progress in the areas of open science and the FAIR Principles. He said that at the same time as taking measures to prevent research misconduct, it will also be important for universities and research institutions to work on research ethics education based on these changing circumstances.

Lecture 1: "How Will Open Science, Generative AI, and Data Science Change Research Integrity?"

Kazuhiro Hayashi (Principal Senior Fellow and Director of the Research Unit for Data Application, National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

First, Mr. Hayashi gave a lecture on the trends in open science and the changes in the distribution of academic information. He talked about the processes through which systems for disclosing knowledge have been formed (including the development of printing technology and the birth of academic journals and academic societies) and also showed how the methods for sharing research results are changing. In addition, he touched on how COVID-19 has led to increased publication of preprints and research data, and increased research-related interaction through social media.

Transformation of Research Assessment and Research Integrity

Next, he explained how research activities are becoming digitized and increasingly can now be examined from multiple perspectives through networked information. He spoke about how DOIs, ORCIDs, and the Research Organization Registry (ROR) have made it possible to link and analyze related information such as researchers, research funding, papers, and patents, and that this is making research processes more visible.

Besides providing a way to praise(evaluate) researchers in ordinary situations, the research activity platform created in this way also ensures the traceability of research, making it an effective tool in terms of research integrity as well.

Mr. Hayashi also mentioned the trend among publishers toward clarifying the types and reliability of AI use and indicated the importance of making it clear which parts of research AI had been used for.

Research Integrity Required in the AI Era, and Future Prospects

Mr. Hayashi presented two perspectives on the future of research integrity: a short-term one (5-10 years) and a long-term one (30-50 years). He said that in the short term, it will be necessary to enhance the transparency and traceability of research processes, clarify the scope of responsibilities when AI support is used, update research ethics education, and establish new verification infrastructure.
On the other hand, he suggested that in the long term, research culture itself will need to evolve, including by expanding the definition of "researcher," integrating ethics and algorithms, and rebuilding the social contract regarding science.

To conclude his lecture, he stated that from the perspective of research integrity, healthy activities will still be required as always ("Behave yourself as ever, someone (AI) is watching you") and summed up the situation by saying that research integrity exists to protect researchers and promote the healthy development of research.

Lecture 2: "Open Science and Research Data Management -- The Expanding Scope of Research Integrity"

Miho Funamori (Associate Professor, Information and Society Research Division, National Institute of Informatics / Director, Open Science R&D Office, Kagoshima University)

Trends in Open Science and Changes in Research Assessment

Prof. Funamori presented recent trends surrounding research assessment reform and open science. In the first half, she clarified the mindset of reflecting diverse contributions in assessments while avoiding an overemphasis on impact factors, mentioning DORA, the Leiden Manifesto, The Metric Tide, the Hong Kong Principles, CoARA and other international trends. She also explained how the promotion of data and code sharing by G8 joint statements, the OECD, and the Royal Society is influencing academic values.

Research Data Management and Support Systems

In the middle part of her lecture, she discussed trends in domestic policy such as the establishment of the 6th Science, Technology and Innovation Basic Plan and NII Research Data Cloud, and also explained about the "National Policy on Promoting Open Access to Publicly Funded Scholarly Publications and Scientific Data" formulated by the Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council in 2024. She talked about the roles of the FAIR Principles and DMPs (Data Management Plans), but also mentioned that differences in requirements between funding agencies are placing a burden on research environment, and suggested that standardization and institutional support will need to be established. Furthermore, from the perspective of "Who will do the research data management?", she explained that researchers, administrative departments, staff, university-wide committees, and other departments will need to share roles and work together, and that institution-level efforts will be required in areas such as running repositories and developing human resources.

In-House Research Data Management Using DMPs and DMRs

By way of Japanese-style data management to be conducted on the institution side, Prof. Funamori presented the idea of implementing governance using Data Management Records (DMRs) in addition to DMPs. The basic idea is to avoid uniformly attributing data to the institutions but also regard researchers as members of them and ensure minimum reporting and the provision of research data in emergencies, while the institutions take over the responsibilities of developing the environment and addressing compliance.

This will ensure reproducibility and transparency, preserve evidence for a long period (10 years), and make it easier for rights processing, security, and the handling of sensitive information to be advanced in a manner that is based on evidence. In addition, it will enable university-wide storage and demand forecasts to be drawn up using aggregated DMP and DMR information. With a view toward linking this with research assessment reform, Prof. Funamori indicated the direction to take to gradually achieve data governance through collaboration between institutions and researchers.

Lecture 3: The Integrity and the Future of Research Activities That Open Science Will Pave the Way For -- A New Era of Transparency, Reproducibility, and Trustworthiness

Jun Fudano (Professor, Center for Higher Education Studies, Waseda University)

Trends in Open Science, and the Spread of Research Culture

Prof. Fudano explained how open science (OS) relates to research integrity from the perspectives of transparency, reproducibility, and public trust. OS is not just about free access to academic papers. Rather, it is a framework that includes data and code sharing, preregistration, Registered Reports, open peer review, and more, and is seen as something that will promote research integrity by increasing transparency and reproducibility throughout the whole process.

In terms of international frameworks for open science, Prof. Fudano talked about the UNESCO Recommendation (adopted in 2021) and The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (revised in 2023).

He then talked about how open science will contribute to promoting research integrity. First, he pointed out that presenting research processes visually will help deter misconduct and promote verification. As an example of this, he mentioned the development of data sharing rules prompted by misconduct cases in the Netherlands.

Next, he explained about how preregistration and Registered Reports are methods that will help improve reproducibility by reducing bias in research results, mentioning details such as their introduction into clinical trials at the USA's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He also said that putting open science into practice is also significant in that it will increase public understanding and participation, which will in turn help foster public trust.

Finally, Prof. Fudano said that it will be important to consider how to respond to OS-related principles such as "as open as possible, as closed as necessary," and that we will need to think about the benefits of "responsible disclosure" while also considering how to protect information that is directly related to personal information, national security, and privacy. He concluded his lecture with the message that promoting OS as a trinity mechanism based on the three perspectives of deterrence (prevention), quality assurance (reproducibility), and public trust (transparency) will help promote research integrity.

Panel Discussion

In the panel discussion, Dr. Tetsuya Mizumoto (Executive Director of the JSPS) served as moderator, and the speakers engaged in lively discussions and answered questions from the participants.

Information and lecture materials of the symposium are available here (JSPS website, Japanese text page)

Report on the Previous Research Integrity Symposium, "Responding to Emerging Research Misconduct and Promoting Integrity in Research Activities" (31 Oct '24)