Code of Practice for Research
Promoting good practice and preventing misconduct
The Code of Practice for Research is an essential reference tool to support researchers and research organisations in the conduct of research of the highest quality and standards.
Drawing upon UKRIO’s unique and extensive experiences in addressing good practice and misconduct in research, the Code provides key principles for researchers and research organisations alike. It also contains a Recommended Checklist for Researchers, a one-page, non-technical checklist for the key points of good practice in research.
Since the publication of the Code in 2009, it has been used or adopted by many research organisations, and endorsed by research funders and other bodies. Version 3.0 of the Code can be downloaded below.
Applicable to all types of research, organisations can use the Code as a benchmark when drafting or revising their own codes of research practice, or adopt it in full or in part. Use of the Code can assist researchers and organisations in fulfilling the requirements of regulatory, funding and other bodies and ensure that important issues have not been overlooked.
Researchers can use the Code for guidance on good practice covering not only every aspect of the research process, but also wider topics such as collaborative working, leadership and supervision, research culture, reproducibility and research assessment.
UKRIO is committed to promoting good conduct in research by providing the research community with practical guidance on the issues which need to be addressed and facilitating the sharing of existing good practice. The Code is a vital part of our continuing work to encourage good conduct in research and to help to prevent misconduct, setting out the responsibilities and values critical to research, as well as providing practical guidance for researchers and research organisations.
The Code and a separate version of the Recommended Checklist are available as PDFs: