About Us
About UKRIO
UKRIO is the UK’s independent charity dedicated to safeguarding and advancing research integrity. For two decades, we have supported researchers, institutions and the wider research system to uphold the highest standards of honesty, rigour and ethical practice.
Our independence is central to our role. We are not a regulator and we do not enforce compliance. Instead, we offer expert, confidential and impartial support that helps people navigate complex issues and make informed decisions.
We work across all sectors where research takes place: from higher education, the NHS, industry, charities, government bodies and beyond.
Read more: Structure and governance
Our values
UKRIO’s work is grounded in a set of principles that guide how we support the research community and uphold our mission.
- Independent, ensuring our advice and guidance is trusted and impartial
- Practical, focusing on real‑world tools and solutions that support consistency and efficiency
- Collaborative, recognising that integrity is a collective endeavour
- Responsive, pairing timely support when issues arise with proactive work on systemic issues
- Community‑led, putting the research community’s needs and priorities at the heart of our work.
Together, these principles underpin everything we do to advance our mission: to promote good research practice and prevent research misconduct.
Read more: Strategy
Our Theory of Change
UKRIO plays an important role in helping practitioners and organisations safeguard and advance research integrity through our annual events and work programme. But we recognise that integrity is shaped not only by individual actions or organisational policies; it is also influenced by the wider research system, where pressures, incentives, norms and cultures all play a part. A core principle of our five‑year strategy is therefore to look beyond supporting the community when issues occur. We will also work to understand and address the underlying conditions that allow those issues to emerge.
We promote integrity and high ethical standards in research, as well as robust and fair methods to address poor practice and misconduct. We pursue these aims through our publications on research practice, in-depth support and services for research employers, our education and training activities, and by providing expert guidance in response to requests for assistance from individuals and organisations.
Our vision is for a UK research community that produces work that is honest, reliable and ethical.
We will contribute to this by:
- Empowering individuals: research integrity relies on the actions of everyone involved: from researchers to technicians; governance staff to senior academics. We will work to ensure all have the knowledge, tools and support to embed integrity into their everyday practice.
- Strengthening organisations: organisations undertaking, funding or publishing research all have a key role in promoting good research practice and preventing misconduct. Our aim is to help every organisation embed integrity into its ways of working and to create the conditions and environment to support responsible practice.
- Influencing the system: the policies, incentives and norms of the wider research system strongly influence behaviour. We will advocate for a system that enables honest, reliable and ethical research.
Read more: What is Research Integrity?
Established in 2006, our aims are to:
- Promote the good governance, management and conduct of academic, scientific and medical research.
- Share good practice on how to address poor practice, misconduct and unethical behaviour.
- Give confidential, independent and expert advice on specific research projects, cases, problems and issues.
Read more: Role and remit
Read more: Who do we help?