Research integrity code of practice

1. Introduction and scope

1.1 Guidance on research integrity produced by a number of national and international organisations (see section 5: Useful links for further information) emphasises the importance of creating research environments which are conducive to good practice and applying recognised principles of research integrity in conducting research and producing research publications.

1.2 Research integrity is about rigour, honesty, transparency, accountability and openness in all aspects of research; compliance to ethical principles, health and safety, intellectual property and copyright, conforming to other legal, contractual and regulatory requirements; conflicts of interest and addressing allegations of misconduct. This document outlines the University’s commitment to research integrity and the implications for researchers and managers. In the context of this code of practice, the term ‘researcher’ refers to any member of staff or any student (doctoral, postgraduate and undergraduate) that carries research under the aegis of University of West London.

2. Research integrity statement

The University of West London expects all its staff and students to exercise the highest level of integrity when carrying research undertaken in its name. This includes all students, permanent and temporary members of staff, emeriti, visiting and associate staff, contractors and consultants.
It is a requirement of all individuals engaged in research to consider the impact of their work on society and the public interest, with reference to the principles of equality and diversity, ethics, public engagement, and thoughtfulness.

The University provides an appropriate research environment and policy framework for its research activities. It recognises that the primary responsibility for meeting the required standards of integrity lies with the individual researchers, and also considers it its duty to deal fairly and promptly with all breaches of integrity under its Procedure for Investigating Research Misconduct (for staff) and its Academic Misconduct Regulations (for students).

3. Principles of research integrity

The principles of integrity should be applied to all aspects of research, and should address the five commitments of the UUK Concordat:

1. Maintaining the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research
2. Ensuring that the research is conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards; and specific funding requirements
3. Supporting a research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice, and support for the development of researchers
4. Using transparent, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct, should they arise
5. Working together to strengthen the integrity of research and reviewing progress regularly and openly

4. Practice and infrastructure

4.1 Good practice in research

Researchers must comply with all legal, statutory, professional bodies, financial and ethical requirements relevant to their work. This includes compliance with the University Ethics Code of Practice and relevant approval by all applicable bodies, including their line manager/supervisor where required.

Research carried out with collaborators from the UK or any other country must comply with the legal and ethical requirements in place in the UK, and in the countries where the research is carried out. In the same way researchers based abroad who collaborate in UK hosted research projects must comply to the same requirements as UK based researchers, as well as those of their own country.
Projects must not be undertaken prior to receiving ethical approval being received and relevant insurance or indemnity arrangements being in place.

The University of West London will:

• Provide an infrastructure to support good practice in research
• Provide easy access to relevant policy and regulations, and forms for submissions
• Ensure that policies and codes of practice are congruent and that procedures are clearly laid out
• Ensure that its research policies and codes of practice cross reference national and international regulations and practices, and its own set of policies in relation to health and safety, ethics, finance, intellectual property, equality and diversity, and academic misconduct
• Ensure all researchers are aware of and comply with policies and procedures to which all research activities are subject when carried out its name
• Provide resources, support and training to ensure all researchers are able to comply with its policies
• Monitor and review where necessary the suitability and effectiveness of policy and procedures, including dealing with allegations of misconduct
• Report on the quality and compliance of its activities to relevant committees Researchers will:
• Bear responsibility for the manner in which they conduct research, and the financial, contractual and legal obligations attached to that research; including with external collaborators
• Be aware of all policies and procedures to maintain quality and integrity in the research process
• Engage with the University to ensure they are adequately trained to carry out research to the standards described in this Code of Practice
• Provide feedback to the University on further developing good practice

4.2 Supervision of research

The University will:

• Expect all supervision activities to be undertaken to the highest standards of professionalism
• Expect supervisors to be fully aware of their responsibilities, and the time and resource commitment needed to carry out their role, and to request support if needed
• Provide policies with clear description of role boundaries and expectations both from the perspective of students and that of supervisors to ensure high standards in the management of the supervision
• Provide annual compulsory training for all doctoral supervisors; and support for all supervisors of graduate and undergraduate projects
• Provide induction, training and mentoring for early career researchers to support their development
• Supervisors will:
• Acquaint themselves of their responsibilities and the mutual expectations in supervision
• Undertake training and further development to continuously update their knowledge and skills as supervisors
• Educate students in research integrity and ethics
• Ensure that students’ research projects are compliant with all policies on research, including proper ethical approval
• Oversee adequacy of research design in all research proposals they supervise; and establish suitability in terms of skills and knowledge of applicants to doctoral degrees
• Undertake all administrative and pastoral duties related to the supervision, including record keeping and progress monitoring and reporting
• Oversee the timely delivery of legal, indemnity, financial, and ethics clearances related to their students’ projects
• Communicate with the Graduate School when issues arise that require specific input or advice
• Students will:
• Acquaint themselves of their responsibilities and the mutual expectations in supervision
• Undertake training and further development to continuously update their knowledge and skills in research
• Make sure their research receives proper ethical clearance

4.3 Training and mentoring

The University will:

• Provide training and development opportunities for all supervisors
• Provide guidance on supervision to staff and students in relevant student facing documents
• Provide seminars, workshops, and conferences where good practice is discussed
• Provide mentors to support researchers
• Provide specific support and development for doctoral students Researchers will:
• Undergo training in order to carry out their duties professionally and to develop their knowledge and skills throughout their career
• Recognise their needs and report them to their managers to ensure they carry out research and supervision to the highest standards
• Engage in continuous professional development to ensure their knowledge and skills are up-to-date
• Recognise and implement the need for appropriate research design, relevant skills and adequate resources to successfully bring to fruition a research project
• Engage with the ethics process and appropriately assess risks in research projects they are engaged in, prior to the start of the research

4.4 Conflict of interest

The University of West London and its researchers must recognise conflicts of interests that can inappropriately affect research. Those must be identified, declared and addressed in order to avoid poor practice in research, and potential misconduct.

Conflicts of interest may include personal or institutional considerations related to but not limited to employment and financial matters.

Conflict of interest is addressed in full detail in the Procedure for Investigating Research Misconduct (for staff) and its Academic Misconduct Regulations (for students). All researchers should refer to this document in relation to this item.

When addressing an issue of conflict of interest, it must be decided whether it is of a type or severity that poses a risk of fully compromising the validity or integrity of the research or whether it can be adequately addressed through declarations and/or specific safeguards relating to the conduct and publication of the research.

The University of West London will ensure that all staff are acquainted with the Procedure for Investigating Research Misconduct and students with its Academic Misconduct Regulations. All researchers will understand the need to recognise, disclose and address conflicts of interest related to research activities.

Researchers must comply with university policy for addressing conflicts of interest, as well as any external requirements in this respect, such as those of funding bodies.

Researchers must disclose conflicts of interests as soon as they become aware of them. Researchers must cooperate with the monitoring and auditing of conflicts of interest.

4.5 Research involving human participants, human material, or personal data

The University of West London and its researchers will ensure that research involving human participants, human material or personal data complies with all legal and ethical requirements; and any other relevant requirements.

The terms of engagement for research involving participants, human material, and personal data is addressed in detail in the Research Ethics Code of Practice where guidance on conduct of research and instructions for ethics clearances are clearly set out. Researchers should refer to this document in all cases. The ethics clearance infrastructure is under the aegis of the University Research Ethics Committee as described in the Research Governance Code of Practice.

The University of West London carries out very little research involving the use and storage of human tissue. Where human tissue is used for research purposes the Health Research Authority guidance and UK legislation must be applied, visit the NHS website on Research Tissue banks and research databases to find out more. All researchers involved in research that requires the use and storage of human tissue must comply with the principles of Good Clinical (Research) Practice.

Researchers engaged in research involving human participants, human material or personal data must ensure they obtain ethics clearance and, where relevant, comply with any standards set by relevant regulatory bodies. There should also acquaint themselves of University guidance on carrying out research on security sensitive issues.

Researchers have a duty to publish the findings of all clinical research involving human participants. It is also government policy to promote public access to any research and research findings affecting health and social care, including the public registration of trials understood as comparative studies of health interventions, not just those conducted in clinical setting.

Researchers must report to their line-manager any concern they might have regarding unreasonable risk or harm to human participants in a study; and any concern regarding improper storage of human material or personal data.

4.6 Research involving animals

The University of West London is not at present carrying out research involving live animals. Should this arise, the present Code of Practice will be amended.

4.7 Health and safety

The University of West London will ensure that all research carried out under its name fulfils all requirements of health and safety legislation and good practice.

The University has systems in place to ensure all forms of research are undertaken in accordance with its Health and Safety Policy.

Where relevant, researchers will submit a risk assessment as part of the ethics clearance; and abide by the recommendations made by University Research Ethics Committee.

4.8 Intellectual property

The University of West London has in place a set of policies on Intellectual Property in relation to research carried out by members of staff and students.

Researchers must acquaint themselves with and abide by the above policy, and fully understand the implications, and their duties and responsibilities, particularly in relation to disclosure bearing in mind their obligations in relation to any publicly or charity funded research, and the contribution of potential collaborators.

Researchers should identify any intellectual property issues related to their research as early as possible in the process, and agree with the University how they will address them in light of the policy.

4.9 Finance and procurement

The University of West London and its researchers will ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of any grants or contracts.

The University of West London has guidelines and policies regarding the purchasing and procurement of materials, equipment and other resources for research; and for the hiring of staff on research projects.

The University of West London has procedures for the monitoring and auditing of finances attached to research projects.

Researchers must abide by the University of West London’s Finance Regulations and seek advice from the Research and Enterprise Office on all aspects of finance and procurement of staff or other resources.

Researchers must cooperate with the monitoring and auditing of finance and procurement operations

4.10 Data management and retention

The University of West London and its researchers will comply with all legal, ethical, funding body and other requirements for the collection, use, storage and retention of data, especially personal data, which come under specific regulation.

Personal data should be anonymised as soon as possible, and all stored research data should be anonymised according to guidelines.

Researchers must abide by the University’s Data Protection and Data Retention policies, at all stages of their research. In addition, certain disciplines, may require data to be retained for longer periods, and this should be recorded with the University’s Research Ethics Committee.

4.11 Publication

The University of West London and its researchers are aware of their duty to publish and disseminate research in an ethical and rigorous manner; and is committed to open access publication.

The University of West London will provide training and support to guide researchers in the publication and dissemination of research, ensuring that issues of confidentiality, proprietary information, intellectual property and patents, dealing with media attention, authorship and misconduct are discussed.

Named researchers on a publication or research output (such as exhibition or performance) should have made a significant intellectual or practical contribution to the work and given explicit permission to be listed as an author in a multi-authored publication. Researchers should address issues related to publication outlets and authorship in collaborative projects at an early stage in the project. The decisions they make should be made and agreed jointly and communicated to all involved. Authors should accept personal responsibility for ensuring familiarity with their contribution to, as well as with the entire contents of the output and be able to clearly identify their contribution made if the work is not of their sole authorship. Researchers should acknowledge the contribution of all collaborators who do not meet the criteria for authorship in an acknowledgment statement in the publication.

Researchers should acknowledge all sources used in their research and all funders and sponsors of the research, mentioning any competing interest.

Researchers should abide by the relevant sections of the Research Ethics Code of Practice; and any specific conditions by funders and other bodies regarding publication of the research, including specific clauses on open access.

Researchers must comply with the University of West London Publications Policy; and discuss with the Research Support Manager any conflict identified in terms of open access.

4.12 Research misconduct

The University of West London provides training on good practice in research.

The University of West London has procedures to investigate allegations of research misconduct, and will ensure that all such allegations are investigated thoroughly and in a timely and fair fashion.

The University Secretary, or in her absence the Director of Human Resources, is the first point of contact to report or raise concerns regarding research misconduct. Authorship disputes should be reported and discussed with the Chair of the University Research Ethics Committee.

All acts of misconduct including, but not limited to authorship, misattribution, plagiarism, falsification, fabrication, misrepresentations, breach of regulations, will be dealt with under the Procedure for Investigating Research Misconduct (for staff) and its Academic Misconduct Regulations (for students).

Researchers have a duty to report suspected misconduct in research. Any researcher who is found to have committed research misconduct will be subject to disciplinary proceedings; where applicable the misconduct will be reported to funding bodies, bodies regulating the profession, or publishers.

The University of West London will support those raising concerns about research misconduct in good faith and will not penalise them. This is in accordance with the University’s policy on Public Interest Disclosure (whistleblowing).

4.13 Monitoring and audits

The University of West London and its researchers will ensure that research projects comply with any policy and codes of practice, through monitoring and audits. The University will ensure that those in charge of those roles will be supported to carry out their task efficiently, fairly, and transparently.

Researchers must adhere to specific monitoring and audit requirements of any funding or legal body; and requirements for monitoring and audits should be considered at an early stage in the research design.

Researchers must comply with the University’s monitoring and auditing procedures; and with any requirement from funding, professional and legal bodies. They should also act on any outcomes of the monitoring and audit of their research projects required of them. If they become aware of a need for monitoring and audit that was not scheduled, they should notify the Enterprise and Research Office for funded research.

It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (or Project Manager) to adhere to the rules of their grant agreement. Budget Holders and Finance Managers must ensure compliant use of the grants. Finance managers will undertake regular audits of research accounts.

5. Useful links for further information

• UUK’s Concordat to support research integrity [Accessed January 2021]
• European Science Foundation [Accessed January 2021]
• Committee on Publication Ethics [Accessed January 2019]
• Authorship disputes [Accessed January 2019]

6. Related policies

• Research Governance Code of Practice
• Research Ethics Code of Practice
• Procedures for Investigating Allegations of Misconduct in Research University of West London
• Open access policy