The UK Committee on Research Integrity has taken on the Secretariat role for the Research Integrity Concordat Signatories (RICS) Group. The Concordat to Support Research Integrity is the highly regarded foundation for much of the work that supports integrity across the UK. We look forward to working with the RICS Group to plan next steps and to support the research sector to continue to enhance integrity practices. We would like to extend our appreciation to Universities UK who have provided support to the Concordat Signatories Group since its inception and are working closely with them to ensure a smooth transition.
About the Concordat
The Concordat to Support Research Integrity, otherwise known as the Research Integrity Concordat, aims to provide a national framework for good research conduct and its governance. It makes sure government, business, international partners and the public can continue to have confidence in UK research and its world-leading researchers.
The Concordat asks universities, research institutes and individual researchers to commit to ensuring their work is underpinned by the highest standards of rigour and integrity.
The signatories to the Concordat are:
The previous resources continue to be available on the Universities UK website.
Signatories to the concordat are committed to:
- upholding the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research
- ensuring that research is conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards
- supporting a research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice, and support for the development of researchers
- using transparent, timely, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct should they arise
- working together to strengthen the integrity of research and to review progress regularly and openly
Latest version
The revised Concordat to Support Research Integrity, published on 25 October 2019, is an updated version of the first concordat published in 2012. The concordat responds to recommendations set out in the Science and Technology Committee’s report on research integrity, published in July 2018.
2024 review of the Concordat to Support Research Integrity
The Concordat is now due to undergo its five-year review in which the content of the Concordat will be updated and revised. The Signatories Group would like to thank the sector for the responses received for our online survey on revising the concordat. There’s a lot of rich information included in the responses, which we are going through in detail. Thank you for providing your experience of using the Concordat, your insight on how it has impacted your organisation, and how it could be revised to better support high integrity across the system.
For more information about the consultation process, including next steps, the Signatories Group have developed some FAQs for the survey.
Template: annual statement on research integrity
This template provides guidance on how to complete an annual statement for the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. This template is being introduced as a pilot from November 2022, which will be reviewed after a year.
Annual statement on research integrity
Annual statement on research integrity
Principles of research integrity
The Concordat to Support Research Integrity sets out five fundamental commitments to support good research practice and a healthy research culture. The fifth commitment requires employers of researchers to produce a short annual statement setting out what work they have undertaken to support research integrity, activities to foster good research practice, as well as policies, processes and actions to address any concerns about research conducted.
Annual statements should:
- publicly demonstrate a commitment to high quality and ethical research, by declaring the practical measures undertaken to enhance research integrity
- reflect on successes and consider areas for improvement to help themselves and the sector continuously improve over time
- provide research funders with assurance information in an ‘ask once’ statement that is publicly available. This aims to reduce bureaucracy for organisations and to help meet funders’ terms and conditions
Produced on behalf of the Research Integrity Concordat Signatories Group by the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), the template provides guidance on how to complete an annual statement. The template is intended to be flexible for use across different disciplines and size of organisation. Some organisations may be able to complete the statement more fully than others. All organisations are asked to use the boxes as it enables a sector-wide analysis to identify trends in policies and practice.
Submission
Once approved by the organisation, the annual narrative statement should be:
- published on the organisation’s website alongside previous annual narrative statements, and/or alongside relevant policies relating to research integrity
- submitted to UK Committee on Research Integrity as the secretariat of the Concordat: riconcordat@ukcori.org. This could be submitted as a copy of the statement, or a link to the published statement online
Piloting
This template was introduced in November 2022 on a pilot basis. The template is not currently mandatory. However, organisations are encouraged to use it to support consistency for sector-wide analysis. The Research Integrity Concordat Signatories Group plan to review the pilot after one year.
If you have difficulty accessing the template, or would like to give feedback on it, please contact riconcordat@ukcori.org.
The Research Integrity Concordat Signatories Group and UKRIO would like to thank those who gave valuable reviews on the initial consultation draft circulated by UKRIO
Summary of activities from the Research Integrity Concordat Signatories Group for 2023
These annual statements give a summary of activities from the Research Integrity Concordat Signatories Group for 2022 and 2023.
It also includes a review of the annual statements organisations submitted as part of their commitment to the Concordat.