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Project updates – Addressing poor research practice and research misconduct

August 2024 meeting

The addressing poor research practice and research misconduct working group convened on 5 August 2024.  

  • The working group noted that a contractor has been appointed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on behalf of the committee to deliver Addressing Research Misconduct in the UK (PS24037). 
  • The appointed contractor will deliver three concurrent workstreams:
    • Providing evidence on the UK Higher Education research sector’s governance of research misconduct.  
    • Exploring international models for managing research misconduct in Higher Education Institutions.
    • Exploring models that include assurance and regulation in UK sectors outside of Higher Education Institutions.   
  • The working group will convene on a bi-monthly basis to inform the commission and monitor progress.   

October 2024 meeting

The Committee’s cross sector working group on ‘poor research practice and research misconduct’ met on 2 October 2024 to discuss and share feedback on the project’s:

  • methodology and approach 
  • extraction templates for workstreams one and two 
  • international comparators longlist 

Members were joined by RAND Europe project leads who presented on the ‘Research Misconduct in the UK’ project.

November 2024 meeting

During the November meeting, members worked with RAND Europe to co-develop the project’s research methodology which would be used to characterise the governance of research misconduct within the UK and provide evidence on international models for managing research misconduct to inform potential adaptation to the UK’s approach and to support international collaborations.

RAND Europe have also produced a long list of international comparators, which the group made additions to, and which will be used to identify a cohort of international models for which there will be a deeper extraction of their systems and processes.   

A policy implications workshop to explore findings and implications for the UK research system will be held in the second quarter of 2025, with the final report expected in the third quarter of 2025. It is planned that the findings and outputs from this commission will inform anticipated Committee recommendations for UK governance of research misconduct.

January 2025 meeting

At the January meeting, the working group discussed the intersection of the commission with ongoing projects within the system. These projects include the Committee’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) workstream, the Delphi study – Fostering Accountability for the Integrity of Research Studies (FAIRS) led by Professor Dorothy Bishop at the University of Oxford and the recently published discussion paper by UKRIO on terminology changes to destigmatise the investigation of research misconduct.

Members provided feedback on the interview protocols developed by RAND Europe. These protocols will be instrumental in capturing insights and nuance from the desktop review for workstream one which seeks to provide evidence on the UK Higher Education research sector’s governance of research misconduct by leveraging the experiences of research integrity managers, panellists and faculty/early career researchers.

Members also reflected on the UK research integrity and misconduct system map produced by RAND Europe. The system map identified key elements within the research system that promotes research integrity and addresses research misconduct in the UK. RAND Europe intends to use this map to frame discussions at the policy implications workshop planned for the second quarter of 2025. We will share information about the workshop in the coming months.

With respect to workstream two, which explores international models for managing research misconduct in Higher Education Institutions, from in desk-based work, RAND Europe have described 24 country approaches, including material relating to their effectiveness. We aim to publish this key early output in the second quarter of the year. Further scrutiny of approaches in 10 countries, selected for their diversity, including interviews with stakeholders to understand policies, procedures and resourcing arrangements will also be carried out in the second quarter of the year.

The final report from this project is expected in the third quarter of 2025. It is planned that the findings and outputs from this commission will inform anticipated Committee recommendations for UK governance of research misconduct.