Research Misconduct

The University of Edinburgh is responsible for ensuring that the research it supports is carried out in accordance with best practice. Moreover, UK Research and Innovation and other funders request that there are policies in place to govern good research practice and investigate allegations of misconduct.

A detailed definition of research misconduct and University policies and procedures are available on the research misconduct website and the University's research misconduct policy via the link below. 

Research misconduct website

Research Misconduct Definition and Process

Research Misconduct includes any of the following:

  • fabrication: making up results or other outputs (e.g. artefacts) and presenting them as if they were real
  • falsification: manipulating research processes or changing or omitting data without good cause
  • plagiarism: using other people’s material without giving proper credit
  • misrepresentation: for example, misrepresentation of data, of interests, of qualifications or experience, or of involvement, such as inappropriate claims to authorship or attribution of work
  • breach of duty of care: breach of confidentiality such as disclosing the identity of individuals or groups involved in research without their consent; improper conduct in peer review such as failing to disclose conflicts of interest; or not observing legal and ethical requirements or obligations of care
  • failure to meet ethical, legal and professional obligations: for example, failure to declare competing interests; misrepresentation of involvement or authorship; misrepresentation of interests; breach of confidentiality; lack of informed consent; misuse of personal data; and abuse of research subjects or materials
  • improper dealing with allegations of misconduct: failing to address possible infringements such as attempts to cover up misconduct and reprisals against whistleblowers.

For a full description of the University's Research Misconduct policy please see the link below.

Other Codes of Misconduct

The College's policy on Misconduct reflects recommendations from other Codes of Conduct. 

UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) Procedure for the Investigation of Misconduct in Research 

University Policy relating to disciplinary, grievance and capability processes

For information on student academic misconduct, including procedures and key contacts, see the Academic Services website.

 

Research Misconduct Informal Reporting Form

The College of Science and Engineering has a form for reporting research misconduct allegations.

The Named Person for the College is the Chair of the Research Ethics & Integrity Committee, Professor Jane Hillston. The Named Person receives allegations of misconduct on behalf of the College and ensures that they are investigated appropriately. Please use the following email address for informal queries CSE.researchintegrity@ed.ac.uk.  Each School also has an Integrity Office and if you feel comfortable doing so, you are encouraged to discuss your concerns with the Integrity Officer in your own School, or another one, before completing the reporting form.   

If you have an allegation of misconduct which you believe constitutes research misconduct according to the definition outlined above and have read the full policy document below so that you understand the process which will be followed in pursuing your allegation, then please submit your allegation via the form below.

Please also check your school/centre's webpages for more information on specific misconduct procedures:

School of Biological Sciences

School of Chemistry

School of Engineering

School of GeoSciences

School of Informatics

School of Mathematics

School of Physics & Astronomy

EPCC

UKRIO have created a research misconduct procedure flowchart.

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