Middle East College recognises and upholds the principles of research independence: the freedom to conduct scientific enquiry with the utmost professional integrity. The guidelines describe the broad concept of research independence, the roles and responsibilities, and the expectations and obligations of faculty and students to ensure that all research activities are conducted with reasonable care and caution, with defined autonomy and impartiality. Scope These guidelines apply universally to:

• All research and teaching staff.
• Undergraduate and postgraduate students.
• Academic and non-academic personnel directly or indirectly engaged in research activities.

Principles and guidelines

• • Freedom of Inquiry: MEC recognises the principle of independence of research by upholding the rights of researchers to pursue scientific and scholarly activities. Researchers can engage in their areas of interest, conducting and disseminating research findings without any external or internal due or undue influence.
  • Methodological Autonomy: All researchers, faculty, or students can choose the methods of enquiry appropriate to their specific research problem. These choices must remain coherent with the research problem, free from internal or external pressure that may affect scientific results.
  • Professional Integrity: All researchers must conduct their activities with utmost care and caution. They must uphold the organisational values of trust, honesty, transparency, and full accountability.
  • Ethical Compliance: All research students and faculty must uphold the ethical guidelines and academic integrity of the MEC policy, maintaining high professionalism, standards, and practices.
  • Neutrality and Fairness: All researchers must maintain absolute neutrality while conducting research. Activities must be free from any bias. Researchers are required to declare their conflicts of interest and funding sources to ensure the objectivity of research traditions and maintain fairness in the pursuit and creation of knowledge.

Monitoring, Compliance and Implementation Research Autonomy Researchers possess full autonomy to produce, explore, and advance scientific knowledge across diverse fields, methodologies, and academic perspectives. Compliance and Accountability • Declaration: All researchers must formally declare compliance with institutional guidelines and established principles of scientific inquiry. • Consequences: Failure to adhere to these standards will result in disciplinary action. This action will be governed by active Human Resources (HR) and academic integrity policies. Oversight and Governance The Office of the Assistant Dean for Research and Innovation hold primary responsibility for: • Overseeing research activities. • Monitoring compliance. • Implementing guidelines. This office will execute these duties in direct collaboration with relevant departments across the institution.