Indicators of research integrity: an initial exploration of the landscape, opportunities and challenges’ is the result of a collaboration between UKRI, Cancer Research UK and GuildHE, to explore what indicators of research integrity exist, or could be proposed, that are valid, reliable, ethical and practical, and to open a national and international discussion on next steps. The three project sponsors commissioned Research Consulting to deliver this work in 2022.

Available on Kudos, the project outputs include:

  • Executive Summary: An overview of the project and key findings.
  • Discussion Document: Summarising the results of desk research and interviews with a diversity of international participants, this document profiles the parameters of research integrity indicators, considering the range of facets within integrity, the actors within teh arena of integrity, and the scope for creating indicators that could be practical, meaningful, and inclusive. This document was used to engage further participants in dicussions in a workshop setting.
  • Workshop Summary: A round up of the discussions that took place online with a selected group of participants in April 2022. Bringing together voices from Early Career Researchers, Publishers, Funders, and other interested groups, the discussion was informed by the research done to date, building on those initial findings, and suggesting ways forward with the work.
  • Dataset: An annex to the reports that details a longlist of actions and measures relevant to research integrity matched to the UK Concordat, from which the other documents all draw conclusions.

The Project Sponsors and the UK Committee on Research Integrity have published a response to the work, outlining five working principles for developing indicators of research integrity, and inviting all those in research and innovation to reflect on how we might take this work forward together.