The Bridge Research Network adheres to the highest standards of research integrity and follows the US Federal Research Policy as the major guideline for outsource research. We encourage ethical cooperation between the peers of our network and impose regulations to prevent and prosecute fabrications, falsifications, plagiarism, and research misconduct of any kind. We share a belief that outsource research assistance shoul serve the purposes of globalization of knowledge, enhancement of international research, and facilitation of equal opportunities to the peers of the global intellectual community.

All members of our community are equal. We call them the peers. All together we create a peer-to-peer research network.

The Bridge created a unique infrastructure to establish research cooperation between the peers. If the peers decide to cooperate on the ground of The Bridge platform, they agree to adhere to ethical principles and to follow the Research Misconduct Policy.

The peers typically divide in three categories:

1. Researcher. Researcher is a person or organization that created a unique concept and commissions a contract research request to advance this concept. Researcher possesses all intellectual rights on the concept and conclusions, which they will make out of evidence, received with the support of a field research executioner.

2. Investigator. Investigator is a person or organization that concluded an agreement with Researcher to fulfill the research request, limited to collection, structuring, and processing of requested evidence. Investigator does not make intellectual contributions to Researcher's concept or any other analytical contributions that influence the concept in a major way. Investigator follows the task order and methodology to provide Researcher evidence to advance the concept. The ethical code determines recognition of Investigators in publications as optional.

3. Co-Researcher. Co-Researcher is a person or organization that is directly involved in analytical development of Researcher's concept and has direct influence on it. Co-Researcher's involvement must extend advices, sharing an opinion, and general consultancy. If fulfilment of a research request demands a Co-Researcher, this person or organization must be recognized, if such option is available in the end goal of research.

Examples of Conduct

Researcher-Investigator Relations
Researcher commissions archival research to answer a question, which will advance the concept. The Bridge creates a specific task order that determines the scope of evidence collection in an archive(s) and distributes the task(s) to Investigator(s). Investigator(s) are not aware of the final goals of the research and limit their activity to the collection of documents from archive(s). If this is a multi-archive research, Investigator(s) know only their specific tasks.

Researcher- Co-Researcher Relations
Production company decided to create a documentary or scientific media content on a topic of public interest. It needs to hire intellectual resources that will help to develop the concept into a script. For this reason, a production company assigns a scriptwriter as a Researcher, while The Bridge creates task orders for Co-Researchers, who research in the areas of their expertise and engage their unique knowledge to advance the concept. Involvement of such Co-Researchers is recognized in credits. Also, Co-Researchers should appear on screen as experts, if it fits the script and interest of Co-Researchers.

Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other personal considerations have the potential to compromise or bias professional judgment and objectivity. An apparent conflict of interest is one in which a reasonable person would think that the professionalâs judgment is likely to be compromised. A potential conflict of interest involves a situation that may develop into an actual conflict of interest. It is important to note that a conflict of interest exists whether or not decisions are affected by a personal interest; a conflict of interest implies only the potential for bias, not a likelihood. It is also important to note that a conflict of interest is not considered misconduct in research, since the definition for misconduct is currently limited to fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.