Research Consulting
UK Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK and GuildHE commissioned Research Consulting to consider potential indicators of research integrity. The work sought to explore whether indicators are being used, if they are effective, and if they offer a potential opportunity for the UK to develop an agreed approach to integrity.
The project collects and summarizes existing evidence around integrity indicators, sets out the landscape in the UK and internationally and identifies five working principles for developing research integrity indicators. Through interviews and an international workshop, discussions were held about the purposes of indicators, the potential challenges, benefits and risks in adopting indicators in the area of research integrity and the perceived roles and responsibilities of stakeholders across the sector. In partnership with the UK Committee on Research Integrity, this work is intended to inform further discussions about improving collaboration and ways to recognize efforts and progress towards achieving high integrity in research.
Integrity in UK research is guided by the UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity, which provides a framework for recognizing and maintaining high integrity. The five essential principles it lists include honesty, rigour, openness and transparency, care and respect, and accountability. Whilst these principles are widely accepted, at present there is no agreed set of indicators by which to assess how these principles are being applied in practice. Furthermore, research integrity is a complex and multifaceted concept, which is continually evolving to mirror developments in the research landscape. This suggests that any attempt to develop indicators will have to be guided by the shifting nature of what the sector means by research integrity and the growing recognition of the wide diversity of roles within the research system that should be engaged.
Discussion document focusing on the landscape of research integrity indicators, based on extensive desk research and stakeholder interviews.
