High Council for Scientific Integrity

The Scientific Council for Scientific Integrity (CSIS) was set up in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in late 2019. The founding institutions are the Royal Academy of Belgium, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, the National Fund for Scientific Research, and the French-speaking universities of Belgium, including UCLouvain, which officially recognises the CSIS as an advisory body.

The CSIS is competent to issue recommendations and opinions on general issues relating to scientific integrity, either on its own initiative or at the request of scientific bodies. The CSIS has no power of first opinion. The CSIS is competent to provide a second opinion when a scientific integrity committee of an institution that recognises the CSIS as an advisory body has issued a first opinion on a case of an alleged violation of scientific integrity or has decided not to give an opinion.

A request for the CSIS to provide a second opinion may be made either by the institution concerned, by the person who referred the matter to the scientific integrity committee, or by the person whose integrity is in doubt.