Integrity governance

The principles underpinning research integrity are outlined in the Australian Code:

• Honesty in the development, undertaking and reporting of research
• Rigour in conducting high-quality research
• Transparency in declaring interests and reporting research methodologies and findings
• Fairness in the treatment of others
• Respect for research participants, the wider community, animals and the environment
• Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples or communities significantly involved in or affected by research
• Accountability for the development, undertaking and reporting of research
• Promotion of responsible research practices

At UTS, these principles are also brought to life across specific areas of research conduct.

Responsible research data management protects and supports researchers in preventing loss or damage to their data, and ensures that legal, ethical and national requirements around privacy and records are met.

Under the Code, researchers will “Retain clear, accurate, secure and complete records of all research including research data and primary materials. Where possible and appropriate, allow access and reference to these by interested parties.” (R22)

UTS researchers are responsible for managing their own research data. This data should be managed throughout a project’s lifecycle and for the minimum retention period (five years or more, depending on the nature of the data). UTS has developed an end-to-end research data management system to enable researchers to easily plan, manage, publish and archive their data. Stash is available through RES Hub and requires a staff login.

Data security and risks must be managed appropriately, and data should be accessible and follow the FAIR principles where possible.

Authorship

All authors named on a research output must have made a scholarly contribution to it, and must be accountable for it. Each author who has made a significant contribution to the output (and only those) should be included as authors, with their permission. Researchers should also acknowledge those who have contributed to the research, and should seek approval from Indigenous people when intending to publish Indigenous knowledge.

Publication

UTS researchers have a responsibility to disseminate a complete and accurate account of their research as broadly as possible, within ethical and commercial constraints. Published research must cite the work of others appropriately and accurately, acknowledge any funding support, declare any conflicts of interest, and disclose relevant ethics approvals. Making publications and related research data openly accessible, where publishers permit, is becoming best practice.

Peer review

UTS researchers have a responsibility to take part in the peer review process in a manner that is fair, impartial, timely and treated with respect and confidence. Any situation where a peer review may involve a real or potential conflict of interest should be declared. Researchers must not interfere with, or influence any peer review of their work.

Supervision

UTS and its researchers have a responsibility to support, train and mentor Higher Degree Research candidates, undergraduate students and research trainees.

This includes providing guidance on understanding the principles and responsibilities outlined in the Australian Code, giving oversight on all relevant stages of a research project, both from a research and reach management perspective, and to establish and set expectation on research relationships and conduct.

Supervisors should take an active role in their own professional development, and undertake refresher courses in supervision from time to time.

Collaboration

Collaborative research is identified in the Australian Code and UTS policy as being research conducted between research institutions, industry, government and not-for-profit agencies, and can be domestic or international. Or a combination of these.

To be effective, collaborations should accommodate differences in research methodologies, practices, guidelines and legislation that apply in different organisations, cultures and nations. These differences should not be seen as barriers to collaboration, and can be managed well through the establishment of collaborative research agreements at the outset of a project.

The UTS Research Office supports the development of such agreements.

Research that is not conducted responsibly, or in line with the above principles, may be seen as a breach of the Australian Code, or UTS policy. All researchers are responsible for upholding these principles, and should not support or facilitate irresponsible behaviour, research integrity breaches or research misconduct.

Breaches of the Code and how to address them are outlined in the Guide to Managing and Investigating Potential Breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

Breaches of research integrity will not be tolerated at UTS and will be investigated in accordance with the above guide and the Guidelines for research integrity breaches (link for UTS staff).