As part of our commitment to strengthen the integrity of research carried out across the university, the University of Nottingham Research Integrity and Research Ethics Committee, have organised Research Integrity Week for the third year.

Research Integrity is the professional commitment to conduct all research according to the appropriate legal, ethical and professional frameworks, obligations and standards. There are five core elements of research integrity: honesty, rigour, transparency and open communication, care and respect, and accountability.

Awareness of research integrity helps protect and value individual researchers, research participants and the research organisation and contributes to the quality and excellence of research. Researchers have a responsibility to ensure that all research is subject to appropriate consideration of professional, ethical, and legal issues.

The University of Nottingham is celebrating its commitment to ‘THE CONCORDAT TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTEGRITY’ and its values through which trust and confidence in research stem, and from which the value and benefits of research flow.

Research Integrity Week intends to highlight many aspects, including ethical, where researchers will immensely benefit in delivering their research. We are inviting all members of staff and students to utilise this opportunity.

​​​​​​​To register for any of the sessions below please complete and submit this form.

​​​​​​​​Monday 19 June

10am – 12.00pm – Introduction to the Code of Research Conduct and Research Ethics

The University of Nottingham’s Code of Research Conduct and Research Ethics provides a comprehensive framework for good research conduct and the governance of all research carried out across the university, including the university’s international campuses.

The Code underpins the university’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, rigour and excellence in all aspects of our research and for all research to be conducted according to the appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks and standards.

The Code is a fundamental component of the research environment, which is characterised by our culture of research integrity, good research practice, and the development and training of researchers at all stages of their careers.

The Code outlines the duty of researchers including their responsibilities towards all participants of research including humans, animals, the environment and cultural materials, and it provides a basis for the transparent and appropriate communication and dissemination of research findings.

Ali Alshukry (Head of Research Integrity, Risk and Compliance) introduces the university’s Code of Research Conduct and Research Ethics and provides an overview of Research Integrity and what it entails.

1pm – 3.30pm – Introduction to Research Ethics at UoN

Considering the ethical issues surrounding your research and gaining the approval of relevant review boards is an essential part of the Research process.

Ali Alshukry (Head of Research Integrity, Risk and Compliance) will outline the university’s Code of Practice for Research Ethics Committee to help researchers identify potential triggers for ethical concerns in their research project and how best to mitigate them.

Tuesday 20 June

​​​​​​​11am – 12.30pm  – Good research practice and a healthy research culture (UKRIO)

The standards for research seem to be fairly straightforward: be honest, take care of research participants, and don’t steal the work of others.

James Parry, Chief Executive of the UK Research Integrity Office will explore whether these assumptions are correct or if we need to think a bit more about what ethics and integrity mean for our research. What impact can ‘research culture’ – the environment and ethos of research organisations – have on the quality and ethical standards of research? Do incentives and competition improve the conduct of research or increase mistakes and other problems?

The session will look at the challenges involved in ensuring that research is high quality and of high ethical standards, discuss the pressures faced by researchers and explore what researchers and organisations can do to safeguard and enhance good research practice.

1pm-2.30pm – Trusted Research and Export Controls

Jason Feehily (Head of Trusted Research) and Ana Gadzhieva (International Risk and Export Controls Manager) introduce Trusted Research and what it entails, and provide an overview on Export Controls in academic research environment.

​​​​​​​Trusted Research is applicable to anyone who has international collaborations but is particularly relevant to researchers in STEM subjects, dual-use technologies, emerging technologies and commercially sensitive research areas.

Wednesday 21 June

10am-11.30 pm – Reproducibility in Academic Research

Professor Malcolm MacLeod – Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience – Academic Lead for Research Improvement and Research Integrity, University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Neurologist, NHS Forth Valley.

Professor MacLeod led the application of systematic review and meta-analysis to the preclinical literature, initially as tool to inform drug selection for clinical trial. This approach also allowed evaluation of the prevalence and impact of reporting of measures to reduce risks of bias in preclinical research, and of publication bias. In turn this led to the development of guidelines for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of preclinical research, and to work with publishers and industry to increase the usefulness and value of research.

He co-founded (with Howells) the Collaborative Approach to Meta-analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADES), which has grown to be an international community of largely early career researchers.

Professor MacLeod firmly believes that research findings are of greatest value when they are used to inform changes in practice. A major goal has been to improve the reproducibility and quality of preclinical research through informing and improving standards and processes at institutions, publishers, funders and pharmaceutical companies.

This session will explore the topic of reproducibility in research, and touch on the work around the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN). He will also touch on the impact of his work on publishing, in response to the growing concern around reproducibility of biomedical Research.

1.30pm-3.00pm – Introduction to Research Contracts – Tips and Advice

If your research involves external parties (government bodies, companies, charities), then you will need a contract to agree project terms. Completion of a contract usually forms part of the external party’s terms of funding, and is required before they will release funds to the university. Contracts secure confidentiality, agree rights of publication and intellectual property ownership, protecting your research and future interests.

You should make a contract request if you are starting a new project, need to amend or terminate an existing project contract, or require some general contractual advice about your research. This includes situations where you need our team to draft the contract, or review a contract drafted by your project partners.

The session will introduce the Contracts team, when you need a contract, help you decide which contract you need, how to raise a contract, the process and tips and advice to avoid delays and speed up the process.

Thursday 22 June

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​10am-11.30am – ‘Open or closed? Finding the right balance with UoN Libraries and Digital Research’

Digital Research and Libraries Research Support look forward to discussing a range of activity that falls under the heading of ‘open research’, highlighting which elements of your research can, or should, be made openly available and where more limited access may be appropriate.

Jane Grogan is a Senior Research Librarian with the UoN Libraries’ Research Support team, providing advice on open access, research data, systematic literature search and publication profiles (e.g. ORCID). Jane is aligned with the Faculty of Arts. She also oversees the ESRC SafePod at the University of Nottingham, which facilitates access to secure data from organisations such as the ONS Secure Research Service and UK Data Service.

Jasper Donelan: Digital Research Specialist since 2019. Has a particular interest in using technology to support good data management practice. Jasper also manages the university’s Research Data User Group as well as the Compute Service User Group.

2.00pm- 3.30pm – Running the Publication Ethics Gauntlet (UKRIO)

Getting past desk rejection and Reviewer 2 can be daunting enough, but researchers also face ethical issues that can imperil even the purest of heart on their quest to publish.

Matt Hodgkinson, Research Integrity Manager at the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), will help gird you for the challenges of journal publishing, taking in authorship disputes, retractions and corrections, dual submission and redundant publication, conflicts of interest (COIs), reporting guidelines and pre-registration, research ethics and consent, peer review norms and variations, plagiarism and text recycling, citations, copyright, licenses, and permissions, editing services, paper mills, and predatory journals, data and materials sharing, image and data manipulation, ethical editing, and business models.

What leads researchers into danger and how may they and their institutions ensure they stay on the right path?

Friday 23 June 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​10am-11.30am – Research Post Award- Financial Management and Compliance

The Post Award team are part of the Research and Innovation; they play a major role in delivering the Research Operations Vision; Deliver sector leading, high quality research management support to enable, support and facilitate research excellence and innovation.   This session will explore the role of Post Award including the primary responsibility of financial management and compliance of externally funded research in line with the t’s & c’s of the external funder. Post Award, as subject matter experts, also provide a wide ranging advisory service, across the wider university.

The session will highlight key tips, advice, resources available to you at the University of Nottingham and provide an overview of the work that takes place behind the scenes.

12pm -1.30pm – What does it mean to be ethical and socially-just in ‘decolonial’ times?

Dr Manny Madriaga (Associate Professor in Education, Faculty of Social Sciences). His research interests are on the processes of social exclusion/inclusion related to ‘race’, ethnicity and disability. He is a sociologist of education currently engaged in research projects with a focus on widening participation and culturally relevant teaching in higher education.

He will explore consideration in research involving BAME and indigenous communities, provide examples of what to consider, when, and how towards more considerate and ethical research.   He will also touch on things to lookout for and/or to avoid in research context.

You can register for the sessions by completing this form.