Sub-Committee on Research Integrity

• Terms of Reference: Remit and Purpose

  The University of St Andrews fully supports the principles laid out in the UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity (Universities UK, updated 2019).

  The University’s approach is to focus on continuous improvement activities aimed at building, maintaining and enhancing a culture of research integrity, taking an academic-led approach to ensure that we strategically focus on activities with a high likelihood of impact.

  This entity is the vehicle for that academic-led approach: a standing group of academic representatives to steer the work of building, maintaining and enhancing a culture of research integrity, by working with key professional services staff (of the latter, most co-opted as required) to:

  • Identify where relevant work needs to be done
  • Develop ideas for relevant work to meet those needs
  • Inform the prioritisation of resource to deliver relevant work
  • When relevant work is being undertaken, to make key decisions regarding the development of the work

  Under the following broad themes:

  • Developing policy and guidance
  • Raising awareness and providing training
  • Engaging externally
  • Monitoring and evaluation of provisions

  The entity does this via:

  • Exercising its reserved powers (as detailed below); or
  • Developing proposals for presentation to other entities

• Terms of Reference: Reserved Powers

  • Raising awareness and providing training:
    • developing and deploying University or School/Dept-level training related to research integrity (it is expected that proposed training will not be mandatory. Any mandated training would need to be proposed to and approved by other entities with such powers)
    • developing and running discussion and/or awareness-raising events related to research integrity
  • Engaging externally
    • taking up opportunities to engage externally on research integrity, on behalf of the University
  • Monitoring and evaluation of provisions:
    • Developing, deploying and reviewing such provisions

   

  For the avoidance of doubt, the following are not reserved powers:

  • Publishing policy and guidance: whilst these would be developed and proposed by this entity, they would be approved by other entities
  • Operating of processes detailed in policies and guidance: for example, research misconduct investigations are undertaken by RIS, and do not involve this entity whatsoever

• Action Plan

  TBD

• Meeting frequency

  Quasi-fixed: 6 x 30 minute meetings will be held in diaries per year, one every other month.

  The Chair and Academic Lead will seek clear topical/action focus for each meeting, without which the diary hold will be cancelled.

  This allows an approximately ‘ad hoc’ approach without the risk of being unable to find time in member’s calendars close to the dates of meetings.

• Core membership

  • Chair
  • Academic Lead
  • Four academic representatives (covering a range of career stages – PGR, postdoc and permanent staff):
    • Life Sciences
    • Physical Sciences
    • Social Sciences
    • Arts and Humanities
  • One technician representative
  • One School/Dept level research support representative

  Other members will be co-opted when needed. 

• Past papers and minutes

  No meetings have yet occurred.

• Role descriptions: Chair, Academic lead, Representative member

  Chair role description

  • Is a member of Professional Services staff, selected and/or approved by the Director of the Professional Services Unit that leads on the area within the Remit.
  • Responsible for ensuring that:
    • An Academic Lead is recruited, ideally someone who is a member of, or attends, RIIC
    • The following are written, with co-development and ownership by the Academic Lead:
      • Terms of Reference, including deciding on reserved powers, meeting frequency, core membership, and member recruitment process.
      • Member Role Descriptor.
      • Member Advert.
      • Pro-active horizon scanning is undertaken from within their Professional Services unit on matters relating to the remit and purpose, ensuring the input of others outwith the Unit as required.
      • The production of papers, reports and action plans is undertaken, led and/or coordinated from within their Professional Services Unit, ensuring the input of others outwith the Unit as required.
      • The action plan is updated and presented to each meeting of RIIC
      • Ongoing secretariat function is provided from within their Professional Services unit, including organising meetings in line with the terms of reference and joint decisions of the Chair and Academic Lead, and operating the member recruitment process as and when required.
    • The continued existence and Terms of Reference of the entity is reviewed, at the very least in line with the approval from RIIC (i.e. after 1 or 3 years of operation), but also on an ongoing basis: entities are strongly encouraged to emerge, disband, merge or split as and when needs change, irrespective of the next formal review point with RIIC.
  • With the Academic Lead, co-opts members beyond the core membership - whether permanently or for a certain amount of meetings.
  • Attends and chairs meetings, ensuring that decisions are reached in line with the process described in the Terms of Reference.
  • Attends meetings (most notably RIIC) to which proposals of the group are being presented, and co-presents (and co-owns) those proposals with the Academic Lead.
  • Attends meetings, and is an active member, of the Sub-Committee on Research Culture Coordination.
  • Co-ordinates completion of actions detailed in the action plan, and in doing so, ensures completion of relevant statutory processes (e.g. EIAs, DPIAs etc): to ensure this, Chairs are encouraged to meet with institutional leads on these areas, at the very least on EDI.

   

  Academic lead role description

  • Takes decisions on the following with the Chair, and co-owns those decisions:
    • Terms of Reference, including deciding on reserved powers, meeting frequency, core membership, and member recruitment process.
    • Member Role Descriptor.
    • Member Advert.
    • Reviewing the continued existence and Terms of Reference of the entity, at the very least in line with the approval from RIIC (i.e. after 1 or 3 years of operation), but also on an ongoing basis: entities are strongly encouraged to emerge, disband, merge or split as and when needs change, irrespective of the next formal review point with RIIC.
  • Involved in the operation of the member recruitment process as required, for example assisting in the advertising of roles, and any decision-making required within the process.
  • With the Chair, co-opts members beyond the core membership - whether permanently or for a certain amount of meetings.
  • Actively participates in the production of proposals, reports and action plans.
  • Attends meetings.
  • Chairs meetings when the Chair is unable due to absence or a conflict of interest, ensuring that decisions are reached in line with the process described in the Terms of Reference.
  • Attends meetings (most notably RIIC) to which proposals of the group are being presented, and co-presents (and co-owns) those proposals with the Chair.
  • Attends meetings, and is an active member, of the Sub-Committee on Research Culture Coordination.

   

  Representative member role description

  • Demonstrates clear interest and enthusiasm regarding, and experience of, the matters in the remit and purpose section of the Terms of Reference.
  • Attends, and actively contributes to, meetings, including actively engaging with the papers circulated ahead of meetings.
  • Actively participates in decision-making in relation to exercising the ‘reserved powers’ defined in the Terms of Reference, and the development of proposals produced for presentation elsewhere.
  • Actively participates in the production of proposals, reports and action plans, as required, including consulting with peers whom they represent.

   

• Process for recruitment of representative members

  Representative member application form for RIIC Sub-Committee on Research Integrity (Word)

  Applicants need to demonstrate that they do/will meet the member role description, by submitting two short statements

  • one regarding their experience of, expertise in and passion for research integrity
  • one highlighting any diverse experiences/insights on research integrity they feel they would bring (e.g. having undertaken research in different sectors, countries or cultures, or understanding of how a research area may be understood/experienced differently by particular identity group/s).

  The Chair and Academic Lead use these statements to select which applicants to invite to join the Sub-Committee.