New guidance: Research Integrity Champions, Leads & Advisers
UKRIO has published new guidance on setting up networks of Research Integrity Champions, Leads and Advisers at research organisations – peer support to safeguard and enhance good research practice within an institution.
Improving research integrity and research culture is a complex and multifaceted endeavour. It is also an essential one. Research highlights how the quality and ethical standards of research, and the effectiveness and wellbeing of researchers, can be negatively impacted by the culture and systems of their research environment and by the incentives and pressures which researchers face.
There is no single solution to these challenges but establishing a system of local research integrity champions can play a key part. Creating informal channels to discuss openly issues of good research practice and the challenges faced by researchers, helps to establish a dialogue around research integrity and culture. It can foster community ownership of problems and help develop solutions, as well as creating an environment which enhances collegiality and mutual support.
Our new guidance discusses how to establish such support networks and includes illustrative examples of they can work in practice, as well discussion of other options for providing support, guidance, and advice. To support our guidance, we have also worked with a variety of UK institutions to produce case studies showing how they have successfully created and supported implemented a model of local research integrity champions.
Download our guidance on Research Integrity Champions, Leads & Advisers:
See the case studies and other supporting material: