Some years ago, as part of a series of campus-wide initiatives at Erasmus University Rotterdam, we developed a dilemma game for research ethics training.

This game uses (stylized) real-life ethical dilemmas in research to let people discuss (in small groups) alternative courses of action and exchange arguments regarding the appropriateness of these alternatives.

The ‘serious gaming’ format is very suitable for making training sessions on research ethics highly interactive, and to let participants understand and apply codes of conduct.

At Dutch universities, this code is The Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (https://www.vsnu.nl/files/documents/Netherlands%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20for%20Research%20Integrity%202018.pdf) but the dilemma game is sufficiently versatile to be used in relation to other codes as well. In fact, myself and many others, have often used the dilemma game in training sessions internationally.

Until recently, the game was only available as a physical card game or online PDF document.

In order to reach a wider audience and inspire continuous attention to the topic of research integrity, the Dilemma Game has now been digitalized as an app.

Other benefits of an app include that the game can be played individually as well, and that it is much easier to add new dilemmas to the game.

For more background and instructions, go to: https://www.eur.nl/en/about-eur/policy-and-regulations/integrity/research-integrity/dilemma-game

The app is available for iOS and Android.

Finn Wynstra