Research Integrity

Research Integrity

University of Galway is committed to promoting and supporting the highest standards of integrity by all those engaged in the university’s research mission and activities.  We promote an understanding of research integrity through learning, training (see below) and mentoring opportunities and support the development of researchers in this regard.  

:: Policy

The University’s Research Integrity Policy (QA514) (Updated December 2021).

• States the University’s commitments to foster and ensure research integrity
• Sets out the principles of good research practice and research integrity – Reliability, Honesty, Respect and Accountability.
• Characterises research misconduct, without giving an exhaustive definition of such misconduct; and
• Outlines the principles that underpin transparent, fair and effective procedures for dealing with allegations of research misconduct when they arise.

:: Best Practice

The Policy is in line with best practice recommendations set out in the National Policy Statement on Ensuring Research Integrity in Ireland (2019) and the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2017).  The key principles in the policy are:

•  Reliability in ensuring the quality of research - reflected in the design, the methodology, the analysis and the use of resources.
• Honesty in developing, undertaking, reviewing, reporting and communicating research in a transparent, fair, full and unbiased way.
• Respect for Researchers (including research students), research participants, society, ecosystems, cultural heritage and the environment.
• Accountability for the research from idea to publication, for its management and organisation, for training, supervision and mentoring for its wider impacts.

In order to underpin this Policy and to embed the principles of good research practice into the conduct of research, Research Integrity training is provided for all researchers, across the Research Career pathway. See more below.

:: Breaches of Research Integrity - Research Misconduct

Failure to comply with good research practice violates professional responsibilities and poses a reputational risk to the University. Where the principles of good practice underpinning research integrity are not followed, a breach of Research Integrity (i.e. Research Misconduct) may arise.  Research Misconduct takes many forms and can be of varying seriousness. The most serious examples of Research Misconduct are:

• Fabrication – making up results and recording or reporting them as if they were real and/or true.
• Falsification – manipulating research, materials equipment or processes, or changing or omitting data or results without justification such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
• Plagiarism – using other people’s work, results, words or ideas without giving proper credit to the original source, thus violating the rights of the original author(s) to their intellectual outputs.

The University is committed to ensuring that all allegations of research misconduct are investigated.  Detailed procedures for the investigation of allegations of Research Misconduct are outlined in the Procedure for the Investigation of Research Misconduct. 

:: Research Integrity Officer (RIO)

The RIO is responsible for receiving and acting upon allegations of misconduct in research in accordance with the principles outlined above and the University of Galway Procedure for the Investigation of Research Misconduct (Dec 2021).  Prof. Martin Leahy is the university Research Integrity Officer.

Free online training in Research Integrity is available to all research staff and students at NUI Galway.  The online training course (Research Integrity Version 2.0) is provided by Epigeum (Oxford University Press) and is comprised of the following 8 core sections: Good Research Conduct, Irresponsible Research Practices, Planning your research, Managing and recording your research, Data selection, analysis and presentation, Scholarly publication, Professional responsibilities, and Communication & Social Responsibility. A further 5 specialist modules are available: Conflicts of Interest, Research involving human participants, The care and use of animals in research, Intellectual property and Export controls.

This course is suitable for researchers from all disciplines. Discipline-specific activities and options are embedded throughout the modules. The 5 disciplines referred to throughout the course are:  Arts & Humanities, Biomedical Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering and Social Sciences.

The following are recommended nationally as comprising a “complete course” for researchers at different career stages:

Early-stage researchers: Core modules 1-8 (Comprehensive)
(Suitable for post-graduate researchers, research assistants and post-doctoral researchers <4 years post-PhD)

 Experienced researchers: Core modules 1 and 2 (Concise)
(Suitable for academic staff, Research Fellows, Post-doctoral researchers with 4+ years’ experience post-PhD and other research staff with evidence of equivalent years of research experience, as per EU guidelines*)

 *Towards a European Framework for Research Careers

 If you would like to access the online course, please contact 'researchintegrity' @ 'universityofgalway.ie'