Our Programme of Work
UKRIO's aim is to provide a comprehensive service in support of research integrity to the research community. We welcome enquiries from research organisations, individual researchers and members of the public.
Although our formal remit is to support the health and biomedical sciences research community, since our inception we have also provided advice and guidance applicable to all subject areas.
The main components of our current Programme of Work are listed in the left hand navigation. If you have any queries or would like more information on our work, please contact us.
Forthcoming from UKRIO: review of our advisory services 2007-2009
As the only dedicated research integrity organisation in the UK, UKRIO has amassed significant expertise through its considerable experiences in helping researchers, research organisations and members of the public address misconduct in research across all subject areas. No other organisation has comparable experience in providing such support to the UK research community.
From the volume of cases that we deal with, currently 30 - 40 per year, it is evident that researchers and organisations, which might be expected to be hesitant about sharing problems with a non-regulatory body, are willing to come forward and seek guidance on difficult issues. To pass on the lessons learned from our experiences, UKRIO will shortly be publishing a review of the first three years of its advisory service.
The review will include key lessons that we feel the research community should be aware of, anonymised summary data on the requests for assistance received by UKRIO and illustrative, anonymised case studies.
The intent is to show how the essential service provided by UKRIO has worked in practice and use case studies to illustrate key points of good practice to researchers and organisations. The review will also highlight examples of poor practice that we feel the research community must avoid, in order not to repeat the mistakes of others.
Launch of web-based version of UKRIO's Code of Practice for Research, to inform the review of the publication
Drawing upon UKRIO's experiences in addressing good conduct and misconduct in research, the Code provides principles and standards for researchers and research organisations and also includes a Recommended Checklist for Researchers: a one-page, non-technical checklist for the key points of good practice in research, based on the more detailed standards provided by the Code. The Code can help researchers and organisations ensure that important issues have not been overlooked and applies to all types of research.
The Code is a 'living document' and UKRIO is actively seeking feedback on the current edition to inform its review.
To that end, we have published an online version of the Code here, including a mechanism for the research community to submit feedback on specific sections and suggest new developments in good practice in research for inclusion. We would welcome your comments on the current edition of the Code.
Further information on the Code can be found here.
Feedback sought on UKRIO's Procedure for the Investigation of Misconduct in Research
In September 2008, UKRIO launched its standard Procedure for the Investigation of Misconduct in Research. The Procedure is designed to ensure that investigations of alleged research misconduct are carried out thoroughly and fairly. It works with existing institutional processes such as disciplinary and grievance procedures and does not replace them.
Since its launch, the Procedure has been used by universities and NHS Trusts to investigate allegations of research misconduct, which can have serious and wide-ranging implications if not addressed properly. Research organisations can adopt the Procedure for use when investigating allegations of misconduct in research or use it as a reference tool when revising their existing processes to address misconduct. UKRIO is happy to provide advice and assistance to institutions on the adoption and use of the Procedure and on the general revision of polices and systems to address misconduct.
Further details on the Procedure can be found here and a PDF version of the publication can be downloaded here.
UKRIO would welcome feedback on the Procedure, its adoption by research organisations and its use in investigating allegations of misconduct. Details on how to contact us can be found here.
