First Line Steps in Requirements Identification for Guidelines Development in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)

Abstract Responsible research and innovation (RRI) considers the impact of research and development on those who are likely to be directly or indirectly impacted by those activities, and provides a direction for the future of research practices in science and technology for the greater good. In the practical world of the lab or research group therefore, guidelines to assist researchers and scientists in the application of those RRI principles are needed. However, this paper is not concerned with the creation of guidelines themselves, but presents an RRI approach to identifying the requirements for guidelines. This is a first step that is often overlooked or presentedasafaitaccompliandyetitprovidesanessentialfactorintheeventualsuccessorfailure ofguidelines,createdforanypurpose.Whatisrequiredinasetofguidelineshowever,isnotonly dictatedbythepreferredoutcome,butisalsoreflectedintheprocessofitscreation.Therefore,an RRI approach to identifying those requirements should also practice what the resulting RRI guidelinespreach.Whilstinitiallydevelopedfortheproductionofguidelinesforresearchersinan EU RRI project, these approaches and principles can be applied across all disciplines when a set of guidelines need to be developed. The approach taken here, utilized several steps in its implementation. Firstly, through a review of the literature and an examination of guideline development in several research projects, a set of indicative requirements were created. A workshop/focusgroupwithresearchers from arangeofdisciplines,careerstagesandinstitutions led to theproduction of the second iteration,which then received furtherinput from both experts inthefieldofRRI,philosophyandethics.Thisledtothecreationofthetableofrequirementsfor guidelines. By utilizing the core principles of RRI and through a critical and reflexive approach, thisworkpresentsanewtechniqueforidentifyingfirstlinestepsinthecreationofguidelines.The practicalandflexiblenatureofthisapproachmeansthatresearchersandpolicy-makersareinvited to use this method in their own guideline development