We are committed to the Concordat to Support Research Integrity and fostering a culture and understanding of research integrity, through our policies, activities and actions.
The University of Southampton recognises the importance of undertaking our research activities with responsibility and integrity. Our Research Integrity Statement contains comprehensive information on how research integrity is promoted across the University, and includes a high-level summary of investigations of research misconduct that have been undertaken by the University:
Professor Mark Spearing - the Vice-President (Research and Enterprise) has an overall responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. This includes oversight of research policies, ethics review process, research integrity and ethics training, research compliance and research governance.
The following groups and committees support the Vice-President on matters relating to research integrity:
Professor Mark Spearing is the senior named person within the University responsible for research integrity.
Dr Julie Merriman-Jones - Head of Research Integrity and Compliance, is the named first point of contact for queries or concerns about research integrity and/or allegations of research misconduct (in line with the University’s Procedure for Investigating Cases of Alleged Misconduct in Research and the Whistleblowing Policy) and can be contacted at: researchintegrity@soton.ac.uk.
The University has a number of academic lead groups, centres or initiatives which develop and support aspects of ethics, integrity and good research practices. These include the Health Ethics and Law group, Southampton Ethics Centre and Clinical Ethics, Law and Society.
The University of Southampton's world-leading research is conducted within a robust framework of policy, regulation, and best practice.
Work is undertaken in accordance with the guidance available at the time and we continue to operate within UK government guidelines.
The University has a number of research policies, processes and procedures to comply with the Concordat. This includes the Code of Conduct for Research which provides an important framework for conducting research at the University by helping researchers to meet legal, ethical and research integrity standards and requirements.
To ensure the University keeps abreast of best practice in matters related to research integrity and research ethics and compliance, we are members of a number of external bodies including:
The RIG Team, part of the Research and Innovation Services (RIS), provides help and support to staff and students on matters related to research integrity, research ethics, clinical governance, and research compliance. The RIG Team can be contacted via the following email addresses:
Further information on research integrity, research ethics, clinical governance and research compliance is available via our Internal RIS Site.