Research Integrity

The Research Council of the Velocity Interoperability Network sets and upholds the standards of research integrity that apply to research it funds. The seven standards below came into force on 6 September 2026 and bind every researcher working under a Council award and every member organisation of the Velocity Interoperability Network that holds one. They also apply to those who review proposals for the Council and to the members of its programme panels.

The standards are upheld by the Integrity Office, which answers to the Council directly and not through the offices that award funding. The Office receives concerns about funded research, assesses them, and where the concern is within scope and supported by evidence convenes an investigation panel.

The seven standards. The standards state what is expected of researchers. They are not a code of practice for any single discipline; where a discipline has its own established practice, it is followed in addition to the standards, not instead of them.

Honesty

Researchers must report what they did and what they found, without invention, alteration or selective omission. Results that do not support the expected conclusion are reported with those that do. Authorship reflects contribution, and every author is accountable for the part of the work they contributed.

Rigour

Methods must be chosen for their fitness to the question, applied carefully and described in enough detail that the work can be repeated. Uncertainty, the limits of the data and the assumptions on which a conclusion rests must be stated plainly rather than left to be inferred.

Transparency

The data, code, protocols and materials on which a published result rests must be deposited and made available in accordance with the Council's open research requirements. Where an output cannot be made available, the reason must be recorded and agreed with the Awards Office in advance.

Care and respect

Research must be conducted with proper care for those who take part in it, for colleagues, for the environment in which the work is carried out and for the property of others. Consent must be informed, recorded and capable of being withdrawn.

Accountability

The principal investigator is accountable to the Council for the conduct of the research funded by an award, and the member organisation is accountable for the conditions in which it is carried out, including the supervision and training of those employed on it.

Independence

Interests that could be thought to bear on the design, conduct or reporting of research must be declared at the point of application and whenever they arise afterwards. No researcher, reviewer or panel member takes part in a decision in which they have an interest.

Proper handling of data and records

Primary data and records must be recorded as the work proceeds, held securely by the member organisation and retained for at least ten years from the end of the award, or for longer where the data are of continuing value. Records must be capable of being produced to an investigation panel.

7

Standards of research integrity in force from 6 September 2026

2 October 2026

Date by which a research integrity officer must be named

60

Working days allowed for an investigation panel to report

10

Years for which primary data and records must be retained

What the Integrity Office considers. The Office deals with concerns about the conduct of research funded by the Council. It does not adjudicate disagreements about the merit or direction of research, which are matters for peer review, nor employment matters, which are for the member organisation.

How a concern is handled. The steps below apply to every concern the Integrity Office receives. A concern may be resolved at any step; where it is, the person who raised it and the researcher are told in writing.

1. 1

   Step 1: Write to the Integrity Office

   Concerns are raised by email to the Council, marked for the attention of the Integrity Office. Give the award reference or the published output concerned, the conduct you are concerned about and any evidence you hold. Concerns may be raised by anyone, including a researcher working on the award.

2. 2

   Step 2: Receipt is acknowledged

   The Integrity Office acknowledges every concern within three working days and assigns it a reference. The identity of the person raising the concern is held by the Integrity Office and is not disclosed to the member organisation or to the researcher without their consent.

3. 3

   Step 3: Preliminary assessment

   Within twenty working days the Integrity Office decides whether the concern falls within the scope of the standards, whether it is supported by evidence and whether it should be investigated by the Council or referred to the member organisation. The decision and its reasons are given in writing.

4. 4

   Step 4: An investigation panel is convened

   Where an investigation is required, the Council convenes a panel of three: a chair who is a member of the Council, a researcher in the relevant field from a member organisation not connected with the award, and one further member appointed for their knowledge of the methods in question.

5. 5

   Step 5: The researcher answers the concern

   The researcher is told the substance of the concern, is given the evidence on which it rests and has twenty working days to answer it in writing. The panel may ask for records, data or code, which the member organisation must produce, and may meet the researcher and other witnesses.

6. 6

   Step 6: Findings and action

   The panel reports its findings to the Council and to the member organisation within sixty working days of being convened. Where a standard has been breached, the Council may require correction or retraction of an output, suspend or terminate the award, recover funds already paid, or bar an applicant from future calls for a stated period.

7. 7

   Step 7: Review

   The researcher or the member organisation may ask the Council to review a finding within twenty working days, on the ground that the procedure was not followed or that evidence was not considered. A review is conducted by two members of the Council who took no part in the investigation.

Time limits. The limits below are those the Council holds itself and others to. Where a limit cannot be met, the Integrity Office writes to those concerned before it expires, giving the reason and a revised date.

What member organisations must do. The obligations below attach to every member organisation holding an award and are repeated in the conditions of award set out on the Awards page.

Name a research integrity officer

Every member organisation holding a Council award must name a research integrity officer to the Council by 2 October 2026, and must notify the Council within ten working days of any change.

Adopt the standards

The seven standards apply to all research funded by the Council. A member organisation may hold its own researchers to a higher standard, but may not apply a lower one to Council-funded work.

Investigate referred concerns

Where a concern is referred to the member organisation, it must be investigated under a procedure at least equivalent to the Council's and the outcome reported to the Integrity Office within sixty working days.

Report annually

Member organisations report each year on the concerns they have received about Council-funded research, the stage each reached and how it was resolved. The first returns cover the period to 31 December 2026.

Train and supervise

Researchers employed on a Council award must receive training in the standards within three months of starting, and doctoral candidates funded under an award must have a named supervisor responsible for their conduct of research.

Reporting. The Council will publish an annual report on research integrity, recording the number of concerns received, how many were within scope, how many were investigated and what action followed. The report names no individual. The first report, covering the period from establishment to 31 December 2026, will be published in the first quarter of 2027 and announced in the Newsroom.

Concerns and enquiries about the standards may be sent to contact@research.gov.vin, marked for the attention of the Integrity Office. The related requirements for publication and deposit are set out on the Open Research page, and the declarations required at the point of application on the Applying for Funding page.