Supporting research integrity at LBU

What is Research Integrity?

As per the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), Research Integrity ‘refers to all of the factors that underpin good research practice and promote trust and confidence in the research process.’ The principles of research integrity within the UK are set out by the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, drawing on international frameworks. These principles are: Honesty, Rigour, Transparency, Respect and Accountability. The principles cover all research across all disciplines, forms and stages of research as well as all of those involved in research from researchers, employers, funders and publishers all have responsibilities. Integrity is much wider than ethical practice or just avoidance of misconduct.

There are many different national and international organisations involved in UK Research Integrity. These range from funders, publishers, advisory bodies, networks, employers, public bodies and researchers themselves. UKRIO’s Research Integrity Landscape Map shows a large amount of those involved, but is not exhaustive.

Support and Resources from UKRIO

As a subscriber institution to UKRIO, we have access to a plethora of resources available from them.

Recent resources include:

• The latest episode of Research Culture Uncovered, a podcast hosted by the University of Leeds. CEO of UKRIO, Steph Neave is a guest on this podcast episode discussing the fundamentals of research integrity, the connection between culture and integrity, interventions to prevent research misconduct, and efforts across the sector to improve research practices.
• An opinion piece written by UKRIO CEO Steph Neave and Trustee Simon Kolstoe, entitled ‘Destigmatising Efforts to Uphold Research Integrity’. This article argues that mistakes in research are inevitable and we need to tackle the stigma around unintentional areas, along with systematic issues which enable Questionable Research Practices. They refer to the UKRIO discussion paper on Terminology Changes which was released at the end of last year.
• A recent webinar on ‘embedding equity in research integrity’ provided a presentation from Dr Rebecca Barnes & Dr Chris Newby about the NIHR’s 10 steps to embedding equity and inclusion in research.

Research Integrity Training

Upcoming training webinars on research integrity topics include:

• Authorship in Research Publications Wednesday 19 March 2025, 10:00-11:00, Online
• Strengthening Research Integrity in the Arts and Humanities Thursday 24 April 2025, 10:00-11:00, Online
• Research culture: practical initiatives for measurement and improvement Wednesday 25 June 2025, 10:00-11:00, Online

Previous webinars can be accessed here:

• Research Integrity and Research Culture in the Third Sector
• AI in Research: Supporting Research Integrity through governance and ethics
• Responsible Research and Innovation

Internal LBU resources

• The University’s Code of Good Practice for Research sets the responsibilities of the University, its senior colleagues and all researchers for creating a climate in which research is undertaken that safeguards good research practice.
• A Responsible Research Statement was produced last academic year to provide a framework for understanding and application of research at LBU to ensure it is aligned in an ethical, innovative and responsible way.
• The Research Culture team provides lots of different resources including the LBU Research Community Teams site. One thing to note is that the recent Research Culture Survey highlighted a number of things regarding integrity, with responses showing 80% of respondents felt research integrity is well maintained at LBU.

The future

We have lots of plans in the pipeline for Research Integrity resources and events. This is likely to coincide with the rollout of the new ethics platform. Please keep your eyes peeled and, in the meantime, you can always contact me at c.c.pettitt@leedsbeckett.ac.uk