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Principles for external communication

As a research institution, SDU has a special obligation to make knowledge and competences available to society, and as part of the public sector, SDU must follow the principles of administrative law - also in its communication work.

Good administrative behaviour

When producing news and engaging with the press - whether reactively or proactively - there are 3 principles of administrative law you need to pay special attention to.

3 principles

  • Implies, among other things, that:

    • only in exceptional circumstances can the use of solo stories be justified in proactive press efforts.
    • you must not threaten to stop working with a particular media outlet.

  • Implies, among other things, that:

    • material that has been provided to one or more journalists cannot, as a general rule, be refused to other journalists who request the same material.

  • Implies, among other things, that:

    • the importance of a news story should not be exaggerated and the content should be told accurately and fairly.
    • facts and figures should support content where relevant.

Background to SDU

SDU is part of the public sector, which is based on values such as openness, democracy, legal certainty, objectivity, integrity and impartiality as well as the requirement for lawful administration (legality principle).

There are a number of general rules on how public authorities, institutions and employees should handle citizens' cases and otherwise act towards the surrounding society. A large number of them are found in the Public Administration Act, the Public Access to Information Act, data protection legislation and established through the Ombudsman's practice.

As part of the public sector, SDU is obliged to act in accordance with the general rules and good administrative practice.

Furthermore, as a research institution, SDU has a special obligation to make knowledge and competences available to society and to ensure that politicians, citizens, businesses, partners, institutions, companies and society as a whole can make decisions on as informed a basis as possible.

 

Code of conduct for dissemination

All your research dissemination should be based on the seven principles of good research communication:

  1. You must be accurate
  2. You must be relevant
  3. You must explain the uncertainties
  4. You must communicate the scientific status of the research
  5. You must disclose the authorship of the research
  6. You must make the perspective absolutely clear
  7. You need to account for conflicts of interest

Prepared by Universities Denmark.

Questions about press and communication?

Contact the press officer at your faculty or write to Press and Communication in SDU Communication if you need sparring about external communication or press.


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