Handbooks for Ombudspersons

Guideline 6 describes the role and responsibilities of ombudspersons, as well as the responsibility of their institutions in terms of communication and support. Among other things, institutions are expected to provide ombudspersons with the substantive support they need to carry out their duties appropriately. This includes ensuring they have access to information that is essential to carrying out ombudsperson activities. In view of the regular turnover of ombudspersons, it is advisable to compile this information in the form of a guidance document and make it available to newly appointed ombudspersons, especially in cases where a personal handover is not possible. In addition to preserving knowledge across terms of office, handbooks promote the exchange of established practices and serve both new and experienced ombudspersons as practical reference tools.

The function of handbooks

Handbooks go beyond purely oral knowledge-sharing since they enable the transfer of standardised knowledge. If they are understood as “living documents” that are continuously updated to reflect developments in good research practice  and ombudsperson work, they can also encourage reflection on and documentation of an ombudsperson’s own effectiveness, thereby functioning as an institutional memory of ombudsperson activities. In this way, handbooks contribute to the professionalisation and consolidation of ombudsperson work within academic institutions.

Core content of handbooks

The specific content of a guidance document may vary depending on the institutional context but can include the following core areas in particular:

• Firstly, it can help to define the ombudsperson role. This includes a description of key tasks, such as consultation, mediation and preliminary assessment, for example, while also distinguishing the ombudsperson role clearly from other points of contact within the institution such as equity and diversity officers and anti-discrimination advisory services. The document can also include an outline of the legal basis for the role and the principles of neutral, confidential and independent ombudsperson work. Key reference points here include the DFG Code of Conduct as well as the respective statutes on safeguarding good research practice.
• Secondly, handbooks can set out the relevant skills and subject-specific expertise. Practical support can be provided for ombudspersons in the form of short introductions to counselling and conflict management techniques, also touching on key issues of good research practice such as questions of authorship and conflicts over data use. More detailed recommendations on specific issues may also be helpful, for example: How can ombudspersons exchange information about a case without breaching confidentiality? How can institutions establish independent reporting structures? Do ombudspersons document their cases?
• Thirdly, handbooks can highlight opportunities for networking and cooperation. This includes both internal points of contact that are relevant to good research practice – such as ethics committees, research data management services, psychological counselling and data protection/IT officers – and structures that operate across individual institutions. Examples of the latter include the Ombuds Committee for Research Integrity in Germany (OWID) and the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO). In addition to providing useful guidance for ombudspersons, an overview of such networks can also foster dialogue in both the national and international context. Other helpful resources can be included here too, such as the website Orientierung zur transnationalen Fallbearbeitung (German only), which supports ombudsperson work in an international context.

Examples of handbooks

Existing examples illustrate how such handbooks can be structured. The Network of Research Integrity Offices in Germany has developed a Handbook for ombudspersons at higher education institutions & non-higher education research institutions, which is also available as a model template for institutional adaptation. Another example is the OBUA-Toolbox for Ombudspersons at Berlin Research Institutions, developed under the project OBUA – Ombudswesen@BUA and specifically tailored to the Berlin research landscape. It includes a section in which users can document and share their own experiences. Both handbooks are available in German and English.

The provision of such handbooks makes a significant contribution to supporting ombudspersons in their demanding role and to fulfilling institutional responsibility in the spirit of good research practice. If designed as adaptable, living documents, they can be expanded by ombudspersons to include abstract case examples and proven approaches, enabling experience to be passed on to successors within the institution.