Call for quicker progress on research integrity at UK universities

Six years on from making commitments on research integrity, a quarter of UK universities still aren’t completely transparent when it comes to misconduct investigations, and there are no meaningful consequences of that failure.

While all the most research intensive universities are complying with the key recommendations of a 2012 research integrity concordat, by upholding principles of honesty, rigour, transparency and open communication, a report from the House of Commons science and technology committee says the fact that a quarter of universities are failing to meet the basic commitment of publishing an annual research integrity report risks ‘giving the impression of pockets of complacency’. It adds that more leadership is required to drive implementation of the concordat across the whole of the research sector. Universities UK’s own figures suggest that in 2018, 54% of institutions had provided at least one statement – although that is double the figure in 2016, and accounts for 80% of public research funding.