Good research practice
At the University of Leeds, we uphold the principles of academic excellence, community, integrity, inclusiveness, and professionalism in all our research activities.
Our commitment to good research practice
As a supporter of the UUK Concordat to Support Research Integrity, we have a commitment to:
- Uphold the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research
- Ensure that research is conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards
- Support a research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice and support for the development of researchers
- Use transparent, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct should they arise
- Work together to strengthen the integrity of research
To ensure you are well-prepared and aligned with these values, all postgraduate researchers (PGRs) are required to complete training in academic integrity, research integrity, and research ethics, regardless of your stage in your studies.
Useful definitions
Research ethics
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.
Research integrity
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.
Academic integrity
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.
What do we mean by ‘good study practices’?
Academic integrity rests on the same practices and skills as does academic excellence. If you develop and apply these practices and skills, your work will not just be truly your own, but also the best that it can be. More specifically, this means skills in:
- Acquiring information and ideas from academically reputable sources
- Researching to generate your own information and ideas
- Digesting information and ideas, especially through reading and note-taking
- Thinking and analysing, bringing together material from different sources, and so working out your own interpretation and ideas
- Creating and writing to express your personal understanding, ideas and opinions
- Citing and referencing as an accurate record of your sources, and to credit the work and ideas of others
- Judging when and how you can benefit from studying collaboratively with others and when it is vital to work independently
What do we mean by ‘shared values’?
Integrity is one of the University’s defining values, meaning that we share a commitment to openness and honesty in our words and actions. This extends to everyone – staff, PGRs and students alike – and to all aspects of University life. Applying these standards in our academic studies and research is vital to ensure that we each, individually, receive the credit that we deserve for our work, and that, together, we preserve the University’s academic reputation and the worth of your degree.
The University is committed to working in partnership with PGRs and students. We will support you to develop the understanding and skills needed to maintain the academic integrity of your work. We will help you to gain confidence in expressing your own thoughts in your own voice. In return, we require you to take responsibility for the integrity of your work. We expect that all work will meet the University’s standards for academic integrity.
We believe that without academic integrity, your education would be devalued. This means that the University has a duty to help all its members to do the right thing. We have an equal duty, however, to ensure that nobody gains an unfair advantage in any assessment. We will, therefore, investigate cases of suspected academic misconduct and take appropriate action against anyone who breaches our integrity standards.
Research ethics
In all disciplines, the ethical aspects of your research should be discussed with your supervisors as part of your research design and management process.
It is your responsibility to obtain ethics review approval before starting your research, if required. The purpose of ethics review is to show that you recognise any potential risks involved, and that you intend to carry out the necessary preparation and management.
To help you think about whether your research will need ethics review, you must complete research ethics training in the first 6 months of starting your studies.
Read our research ethics review process page for further guidance.
Research and academic integrity
Your work should always be a true expression of your personal understanding and original ideas, while giving credit to others for their contributions. As a PGR you should understand the following in relation to research:
- Academic integrity, including plagiarism
- Generative AI tools
- Intellectual property (IP)
- Copyright
- Data management
Academic integrity, including plagiarism
There is a lot of support available to help you ensure that the work you submit meets the expected standards of academic integrity. This includes the PGR Academic integrity ‘essentials’ and ‘advanced’ online units which cover, amongst other topics, plagiarism, re-use of work, collaborating with others and viva examination expectations. Read the research practice training and tests page for more detail. The Researcher Support pages of the Library website include sources of research support and advice, as well as courses that are available to book. Support is also available from your supervisors.
The University takes suspected cases of plagiarism very seriously, however if you follow the principles and guidance outlined in the training and other resources, you can be sure that the work you present for assessment meets the University’s academic and research integrity expectations.
Find out more about the University’s Investigating plagiarism in research work policy.
Taught modules in your programme
If your research degree includes taught components, such as the Integrated PhD and Master's programmes, please also read the guidance on academic integrity for taught assessments. Please note that the academic misconduct procedures outlined on the Student Cases website will apply to these taught elements.
Generative AI tools
The University has detailed guidance on the use of Generative AI (Gen AI) tools. It is intended to help you and your supervisors navigate some of the questions and challenges arising in this rapidly evolving area, to ensure that any use of Gen AI is effective, ethical and transparent. It uses a traffic light system to explain when and how Gen AI can be used during your research degree, and how this relates to the expectations and assessment criteria for your research degree award.
Intellectual property (IP)
As a PGR you may generate intellectual property (IP) as part of your work.
The University’s Intellectual Property (IP) policy sets out the University’s position regarding the ownership of intellectual property (IP) developed by staff, students (including PGRs) and certain others. It also outlines the procedures in place for commercialisation of University-owned IP.
Copyright
Researching and writing a thesis raises a number of copyright issues. You can only include material in your thesis that you have copyright approval for, or that you have permission from the copyright holder to use. This may affect how you structure your thesis, so you should consider copyright right from the beginning of your studies, as this makes things much easier when you reach thesis submission time. Pay special attention to any third party copyright material you wish to include. Keep records of any materials you may want to use as you find them, including images and information found online. Discuss any issues or challenges with your supervisors.
Guidance on thesis submission, including copyright and permissions considerations, is available from the Submit your final eThesis page.
Advice about use of copyright material in your thesis, copyright relating to publishing material from your thesis, licensing your thesis for others to use and protecting your rights as the author is given on the Copyright for theses page of the Library website.
Data management
It is important the research data and materials you generate are managed in accordance with the University policies and procedures for safeguarding, handling, storage and back-up of data. You should have a data management plan in place by no later than the transfer stage. Read our data management plans page.
Trusted research and export controls
UK Export Controls restrict the transfer or disclosure of sensitive goods, software, and technology (including know-how and other information) to recipients and destinations outside the UK.
This covers:
- physical exports
- electronic transfers (via email, file sharing, virtual meetings, etc)
- and verbal communication.
Export control legislation may apply if your research involves any “High Risk” subject areas or dual-use categories, especially if you will be traveling outside the UK during your studies.
Detailed guidance is available on the Guidance on Export Controls page of the Research and Innovation Service website.
Please discuss with your supervisors whether an export control licence is required. They can contact the Trusted Research Environment Manager for assistance and advice.
Additionally, the University must comply with banking regulations concerning transactions with certain countries or regions, which may necessitate enhanced screening and due diligence for any change of study location involving these areas. Further information on Sanctioned Countries is available on the How to pay page.
ORCID
ORCID stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID. It is a unique digital identifier that distinguishes you from other researchers. ORCID ensures that the data about you and your body of work is accurate and correctly linked to your researcher profile. It also improves the visibility of the research.
All PGRs should register for an ORCID identifier.
There are two ways you can do this:
- ORCID's website
- Symplectic (University publications database) – go to “My Actions”, select “Add ORCID” and register your details.
Find more information on the uses and benefits of ORCID.