Handling complaints
How the industry’s self-regulation works when a member of the public submits a complaint about published research:
- SIMAR accepts complaints sent to its publicly available contacts, that is by e-mail, by post to its delivery address or to its electronic data box.
- For a complaint to be dealt with properly, its author needs to identify the agency, the project and the period in which the project was carried out, and to describe briefly the situation the complaint concerns. The complainant should also give full contact details and, where applicable, describe any involvement of their own in the project.
- As an industry association, SIMAR does not deal with employment matters.
- On first reading, SIMAR assesses whether the complaint is serious and well founded, and confirms to its author or authors whether it will take the matter up.
- Further steps are taken without delay, ideally within a week; the complainant is told the timing.
- With more complex complaints, SIMAR may appoint an independent expert or a panel of experts to assess the research project concerned. A first analysis may be carried out on the basis of information available in the public domain, or of information provided by the complainant. The complainant’s identity, where it is not publicly known, is not disclosed to the panel of experts.
- At the same time, SIMAR invites the author of the research to comment on the matter and to explain.
- The SIMAR board considers the statements of the experts and of the agency and decides how to proceed – for example a meeting with the author of the research and the independent expert or experts, or making room for a broader discussion.
- The process concludes with a reply to the author of the complaint and a report to the author of the research concerned.
- Where the expert panel finds that the breach of the rules is serious, the outcome also includes a call on the author of the research to take corrective action (putting internal processes right, or a public statement by the agency, for instance).
