This code also aims to serve as a basis for the Annual Meeting Codes of Scientific & Ethical Conduct. A consultation with the EAVP Executive Board would need to be called in order to explore potential points of contention if the organising committee of the Annual Meeting adheres to other institutional regulations or has its own code.

This code has been drafted using the codes of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), the Palaeontological Association (PalAss), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), and the EAVP symposium “Fossillegal” as a basis and inspiration.

Persons to whom this code applies:

All members of EAVP, those who publish in the Association’s publications (e.g. Paleovertebrata), and those who participate in EAVP meetings and events. Individuals are responsible for ensuring that their own conduct complies with the standards of good scientific and ethical practice detailed in this Code.

Sections of this Code include both aspirational and mandatory standards of conduct with respect to our work with fossils and in research settings. The sections that concern professional interpersonal relationships and the Annual Congress should all be regarded as mandatory. The aspirational standards embody the values of the EAVP, and while we recognize that they are not enforceable, they emphasize the conduct that we strive to uphold.

The mandatory standards are firm requirements. Any Member found to have violated the mandatory standards will be in violation of this Code and may be subject to disciplinary or remedial action in accordance with EAVP’s Code of Conduct Reporting and Ethics Investigation Procedures.

In addition to the aspirational and mandatory standards included in this Code, we all have a duty to comply with the law and avoid any behaviour that would be prejudicial to the Association’s interests. Members should also note that they might moreover be bound by higher standards by their employer. We also have a responsibility to adhere to all policies, rules, and permitting requirements that apply to our professional activities.

Scientific misconduct

EAVP is committed to promoting a culture of research and publication integrity. We will not engage in or tolerate scientific misconduct.

Scientific misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

Fabrication of data or results and recording or reporting them.
Falsification of results by manipulation of research materials, equipment or processes, changing or omitting data or results, and reporting such that the research is not accurately represented.
Plagiarism by appropriating another’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
Harassment, discrimination, bullying (including academic bullying), or coercive manipulation.

Fossil Collection

EAVP stands for the protection, preservation, and responsible use of fossil Vertebrate Lagerstätten, and rejects the illegal acquisition of fossils.

EAVP acknowledges that vertebrate palaeontology would not have developed as a science without private collectors and the commercial sale of specimens, noting the ongoing importance of the sale of legally acquired specimens to the continuing development of the science, as well as publicly-accessible collections. By emphasising the scientific value of their material while promoting a sense of inclusivity and respect, publishing on privately-owned specimens can also be seen as a way to forge closer ties with members of the amateur and commercial palaeontological communities while educating them. EAVP firmly believes that a fossil that has benefited Science and society – whether through research, education, offering entertainment and stimulation, or aiding in a community’s financial stability – is far preferable to one that has been destroyed and lost forever. EAVP thus rejects the persecution, bullying, and intimidation of legally compliant commercial and/or private fossil collectors. However, EAVP understands the complexity of this topic and the impossibility of generalisations, so the ethics committee is currently working on a detailed handbook on private collectors/collections and the commercial sale of fossils.

Mandatory standards

We will conduct our field collection, and export and import of fossil material with all necessary permissions and permits, and abide by all relevant local, national, and international laws and ordinances, rules, agreements, and regulations regarding geological/natural heritage. Members who engage with material from territories where there are restrictions on the collection, trade, or export of fossils have a requirement to verify that the fossil material has been collected and/or left the territory in full legal compliance with the relevant legislation in place in the territory at the time of those events.
When undertaking fieldwork, we will strive to ensure the personal health, safety, and well-being of all participants, while upholding the highest standards of interpersonal conduct and scientific rigor.
We will remember that, intentionally or unintentionally, we act as ambassadors for our profession, and will conduct ourselves accordingly at all times.

Aspirational standards

When we conduct sampling activities, we will act in the knowledge that we must preserve the Earth’s paleontological, geological, and biological heritage.
We will work in concert with landowners, land managers, local communities when appropriate, and repositories to ensure that they are fully informed of our plans.
As best practice, we will carry out comprehensive and detailed excavations and field analyses, using accurate field notes, photos and drawings, and digital acquisition technologies (e.g. scanning and/or digitization) where possible.

Collections Management

EAVP is opposed to the restriction of access of researchers with a legitimate research interest to both collections and fossil deposits within the boundaries set by the local legislation.

EAVP notes that, providing that the correct/legal acquisition of a specimen has been followed, fossils from different locations can legitimately be deposited in the collection of museum/institution distinct from one local to the origin area of the fossil (whether in the same or a different country). The establishment of collaborations for linking the specimen to an institution in its origin country should be considered, e.g. by providing the fossil with a catalogue number from an institution from the origin country, sharing with it physical and/or digital copies, and all the accompanying information with them, through the creation of a long-term agreement or loan contract. Reciprocal training programs should also be considered for the mutual sharing of knowledge.

EAVP notes that international collaborative agreements often require that type or holotype material resulting from such a collaboration should be housed in an institution of the originating country. In such circumstances, institutions should behave in the spirit as well as the letter of the agreement, ensuring that the best specimens are selected for this purpose. In the case that other material is subsequently identified as type material for new taxa, a return of such material to the country of origin should be considered.

Mandatory standards

Specimens and accompanying field data will be reposited in collections where they will be stored in perpetuity.
Digitised specimens should adhere to the FAIR principles (each object should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), and be hosted – with their essential associated metadata – in proper repositories where possible.
We will document our collection, preparation, and conservation methods to the greatest extent practical, including any materials applied to specimens and their surrounding matrix.
Fossil preparation should be completed by appropriately trained individuals or under the supervision of such individuals.
Those members responsible for setting museum policy should work to advocate for policies that are consistent with a spirit of access, reproducibility, and research dissemination.

Working with specimens

Mandatory standards

When working with specimens, we will treat all collections with respect, and will follow all relevant institutional policies for their preservation and use.

Aspirational standards

Any alteration to specimens (including preparation) will only be made when necessary and with appropriate permissions. If destructive sampling is needed for research purposes, we will provide physical and digital copies (physical samples, photos, drawings, 3D models, etc), so that the specimen remains accessible in the future.
Imaging or molding and casting will only be done with permission from the repository.

Palaeontological research

EAVP strongly supports genuine collaboration between researchers from different countries – especially from the area where the fossil was recovered – but rejects the token inclusion of authors local to the fossil site with the sole objective of ticking boxes, unless required by local laws. An author is an individual who has made a genuine, identifiable contribution to the content of a research publication of text, data or software. Collaboration should be based on openness and honesty, both in respect to scientific involvement and information, but also in respect of transmitting knowledge of procedures, legal requirements, and permissions.

EAVP is opposed to racism and any kind of discrimination due to ethnicity, nationality, religious believes, neurodiversity status, or gender, advocating for diversity and inclusivity in the assembly of authors for research and scientists included in collaborative research projects, but rejects the tokenistic inclusion of individuals as authors where they have not genuinely contributed to the research in question. EAVP is similarly opposed to authorships assembled under an agenda of nationalistic exclusivity. Science is an international collaborative venture and will only stagnate under such isolationist or xenophobic approaches.

Mandatory standards

We will educate ourselves on the relevant legal and human rights issues related to the fossils on which we work and the countries in which we work.
We will obey all local, national and international laws pertaining to the specimens on which we work.
We will not carry out research work on specimens that have been illegally exported from their country of origin.
We will not work on specimens where there is reason to suspect that their sale or collection funds ongoing conflict or human rights abuses.
We will only carry out research work and publish on fossil vertebrate specimens that are deposited in or immediately destined for collections which are committed to render the specimens and associated data accessible to any and all researchers.
We will uphold relevant laws around access to locality data.
We will use scientifically sound and appropriate methods to answer research questions. When developing and applying new methods, we will attach particular importance to quality assurance and the establishment of standards.
We will document all information relevant to the production of a research result as clearly as is required by and is appropriate for the relevant subject area to allow the result to be reviewed and assessed. This also includes documenting individual results that do not support the research hypothesis. Documentation and research results must not be manipulated.
We will make specimens and the raw data that underlie our publications freely available to other researchers within legal and institutional policies. We will describe the methods and results clearly and in full. We will retain these backup research data and results for an appropriate period of time (at least 10 years).

Aspirational standards

Research embargoes will be used sparingly and have specific provisions to ensure timely access to fossil material by other researchers.
We will allow access, by qualified researchers, to specimens in our care and will not prevent access to specimens by other researchers once we have had a reasonable amount of time to work on them ourselves, publishing our research in a timely manner.
Whenever possible we will make the research data and principal materials on which a publication is based available in recognised archives and repositories in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

Research dissemination and public engagement

Mandatory standards

When engaging with the press, we will represent our research accurately.
We will not intentionally reveal the results of embargoed research to other researchers or to the general public while an embargo is active.
We will not reveal the results of the unpublished work of others to colleagues or the general public unless we have the explicit permission of the relevant author(s)/principal investigator(s).

Aspirational standards

We will strive for the highest standards of intellectual honesty.
We will strive to conduct research that is replicable and reproducible, producing research records that are clear, transparent, and free from bias.
We will strive for the highest quality research, and we will strive to avoid shortcuts in the research process.
We will make every effort to give full credit to those who have made scientific contributions to our work, while not requesting or expecting authorship for minimal intellectual contributions.
We will strive to provide research results, when requested, to the institutions that care for the specimens we research, landowners, local communities and other stakeholders in our research in a timely manner.
When asked to comment on scientific matters for news media, we will be transparent about our areas of expertise.
We will strive to ensure diverse voices are represented in media coverage of our work.
We will peer-review and edit each other’s research (including manuscripts, grants, and other outputs) work in an objective, fair, timely, and thorough way. When peer-reviewing, we will be transparent about the limitations of our knowledge as a reviewer, to the best of our ability. We will disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest.
We will strive to correctly acknowledge all funders and access providers for our work.

You can download the pdf of the code here