New guidance for UKRIO subscribers: Self-Assessment Tool for the Concordat to Support Research Integrity

The Concordat to Support Research Integrity sets out five key commitments on research integrity. The major funders of research and universities in the UK now require compliance with the Concordat as a condition of their grants.

It can be challenging to put high-level statements on research standards into practice and many institutions and researchers have asked UKRIO for advice.

Our Self-Assessment Tool has been developed to help institutions identify practices, systems and issues that may need revision in order to comply with the Concordat. It also goes further than helping with compliance, allowing institutions to consider how they might carry out a broad implementation of the Concordat, building on their existing activities. Guidance is given on every aspect of the Concordat but particular attention has been paid to areas where UKRIO has most often been approached for guidance.

It poses self-assessment questions for institutions, each mapped onto one or more commitments of the Concordat, and introduces practical ways in which they might be met . An annex discusses what might be included in an annual institutional statement on research integrity, a key recommendation of the Concordat.

Use of the self-assessment questions will not only help with the implementation of the Concordat, but also enhance an institution’s overall approach to research integrity and help ensure that important issues have not been overlooked. Our aim is not to suggest a ‘one size fits all’ approach but help institutions consider how the Concordat can best be implemented in their particular settings.

How do I get a copy?

UKRIO’s Self-Assessment Tool for the Concordat is currently available in electronic format only. UKRIO subscriber institutions were sent copies in May. Please contact us if you did not receive a copy.

At present, the Self-Assessment Tool  is only available to those research organisations which have chosen to subscribe to UKRIO. If your institution would like to learn more about the benefits of supporting UKRIO, please contact us.