Ethics

The CoAct research cycle is guided by the ethical values and principles of inclusiveness, horizontality, equity, trust and respect, open science, co-ownership, empowerment, and reflexivity. Inclusivity means prioritising the participation of vulnerable and under-represented communities and individuals in a research process. Horizontality means monitoring, and where necessary, shifting power relations and re-allocating responsibilities among co-researchers. Equity is a value that calls for careful planning to achieve equitable distribution of resources among research partners. Trust and respect are fundamental values that are strongly promoted along the overall process. All participants must freely express themselves in an informal and non-judgemental atmosphere. Knowledge production in the project means practising open science. This is to say, all materials, datasets and results are made openly accessible under Creative Commons Licenses. Co-ownership applies to all outputs of the project. Co-researchers are considered co-owners of collectively generated materials and results. They are also invited to contribute as co-authors of (scientific) publications. Empowerment is a crucial goal throughout the whole research cycle. All of these ethical principles and values require continued reflexivity in order to evaluate, modify, and improve professional researcher actions and attitudes towards internal hierarchies