Research practice training and tests

All PGRs should complete the academic integrity, research integrity and research ethics training, whatever stage you are at in your studies.

Academic integrity reflects a commitment to good study practices and shared values. It ensures your work is a true expression of your personal understanding and original ideas, while giving credit to others for their contributions.

Research integrity involves conducting research in such a way to establish trust in your methods and findings. It encompasses researchers' values and behaviours, resulting in high-quality, ethically sound, and rigorous research across all stages, from project planning to dissemination of outcomes.

Research ethics centres on safeguarding the well-being of individuals, animals, society, and the environment impacted by your research. In conjunction with legal requirements, it encompasses the ethics peer review process to prevent potential harm and assess any risks, ensuring ethical considerations guide your research endeavours.

We understand that you will already have experience in producing academic work and are likely to be familiar with the practices and conventions covered in the training.  Some of this content might also be familiar to you if you completed your undergraduate or taught postgraduate studies at Leeds. Nevertheless, the training will ensure that your formal assessments at the transfer and thesis examination stages meet the University’s academic integrity and research integrity expectations.

For new PGRs, completing the academic integrity tutorials and tests, and the online tutorials in research integrity and research ethics should be included in your training plan agreed between you and your supervisors within the first three months, and the should be completed within the first six months of study (nine months for part-time study) before the First formal progress review stage.

Academic integrity tutorials and tests

The PGR Academic integrity tutorial is split into two parts: ‘Essentials’ and ‘Advanced’. You should complete both the Essentials and the Advanced parts of the tutorial. The section below includes guidance on each and when in your studies these should be completed.

PGR Academic integrity - Essentials

Previously known as the Academic integrity tutorial and test, PGR Academic Integrity - Essentials is the first part of the PGR Academic Integrity tutorial. It covers the essentials of what you will need to know about academic integrity, to support you with good academic practice during your research degree at Leeds.

When to complete: You must complete this part within the first 6 months of starting your studies.

What does it cover: This part of the tutorial will cover:

Definitions and expectations of academic integrity.
Good academic and study practices.
Referencing, citing and quoting.
Note making and summarising.
Plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice.
Sources of advice and support.

How long is it: The unit and test will take about 20 minutes to complete.

Completion: At the end there is a short test to check your understanding. When the test has been passed it will record this as complete in Minerva. If you don't score full marks on the test you will see a notice to try again. You can take the test as many times as you need to and when you achieve full marks you will see a 'test complete' notice. Your progress/completion will be visible to the Doctoral College and your Graduate School.

PGR Academic Integrity – Advanced

This is the second part of the PGR Academic Integrity tutorial.

When to complete: We recommend that you complete this part before the transfer stage (for Doctoral degrees) or by examination entry (for Masters by Research degrees). You can revisit the topics at any time during your studies.

What does it cover: This part of the Tutorial will cover three different topics:

Re-use of work in your thesis: explore what work you are permitted to reuse in your thesis submission, including work from your transfer submission, annual progress reviews or any publications.
Collaboration at PGR level: understanding how you might work with others at PGR level and how this should be acknowledged in your thesis. This will include the University rules on proof-reading of PGR work.
PGR viva examination conduct and practice: understand the purpose of the viva examination (both transfer and thesis), what material you are authorised to bring with you and who is permitted to attend.

How long is it: Each topic and test will take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

How to access the Tutorial

The tutorial is available via Minerva

Navigate to the Academic Integrity Folder and select this.
Select “PGR Academic Integrity - Essentials” to access the first part of the tutorial
Using the same instructions select “PGR Academic Integrity – Advanced” to access the second part of the tutorial.

If you have any trouble accessing the tutorial, please check that you have completed registration for your studies. After completing registration, please allow at least one day and if after this you are still have difficulty accessing the tutorial, please log this as a ticket with IT so that this can be investigated and resolved.

Research integrity and research ethics online training

This training is designed to help you explore what research integrity means and your responsibilities as a researcher in maintaining standards of good research practice. The resource encourages your reflection on why research integrity matters and how to tackle challenges you may face on your research journey. This training also introduces your responsibility to fully consider the ethical implications of your work, apply the core principles of research integrity and how to apply for ethical approval (as appropriate to your project). The ethics review process should be approached as a positive experience and not a barrier to your research. Alongside the training, please talk to your supervisor about research ethics and the possible requirement for ethical approval before starting your project. You can read more on the Ethics review page of the For Students website.

You can access the Research Integrity and Research Ethics training through the OD&PL Training Catalogue.

Other academic integrity training and support

Your supervisors will provide you with academic support as you prepare your work for submission. If you are not sure or have any queries about academic integrity you should talk to your supervisors, Director of PGR Studies or your Graduate School

In addition to the advice and support available from your supervisory team, support with academic writing is available from a number of teams across the University. Please see the Postgraduate training and research skills page of the For Students website for further information. The Researcher@Library website includes various sources of support and advice for PGRs, as well as courses that are available to book. They also have resources covering academic integrity and plagiarism.

Useful links

PGR Proof-Reading Policy and Guidance
Guide to the thesis examination process