Short Life Working Group on Recognising Contributions to Research

• Terms of Reference: Remit and Purpose

  The entity will develop guidance, for proposal to RIIC:

  • by bringing together a group representing a wide range of disciplines, career stages and job types (including non-academic staff, such as professional services and technicians) to work through the questions and issues that will arise;
  • that is the result of the consideration and discussion of relevant guidance and frameworks, including the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) and the Method Reporting with Initials for Transparency (MeRIT). To best crowdsource these documents, Directors of Research (DoRs) will each be asked to indicate any existing guidance and frameworks that best represent the norms in their disciplines.
  • that focuses on ‘what types of contributions deserve what types of recognition’, and be actively agnostic to the job title, job family, contract type or affiliation of the contributor;
  • that describes expectations around the proactive use of the guidance in both induction processes at the School/Departmental/team level, and in the process of preparing work for publication; and
  • that sits at the University level, and as such might be quite high level, noting the shared axioms across all disciplines

  For avoidance of doubt, this remit does not include exploring and making recommendations relating to pay or progression. 

• Terms of Reference: Reserved Powers

  The entity is the decision-maker for all aspects of its work in delivering a proposed guidance document to RIIC.

  RIIC is then the decision-maker for approval of the proposed guidance document.

• Meeting frequency

  There will be two stages, with at least 1 meeting in each stage. These will be arranged as required.

  The first stage (at least 1 meeting) will discuss the various frameworks and existing guidance, to identify areas of convergence and divergence. The discussions in this phase will inform RIS to produce a draft outline guidance document.

  The second stage (at least 1 meeting) will discuss the draft outline guidance document produced by RIS, until a consensus proposal is reached to put to RIIC for approval.

  There will be engagement with the wider community as part of this process. It is expected that i) earlier in the process there will be a bottom-up gathering of input and ii) later in the process there will be events, organised and facilitated by RIS, with light catering provided by RIS, bringing cognate Schools together to collectively discuss the emerging guidance.

• Core membership

  • Chair
  • Academic Lead
  • Representative members from a wide range of disciplines, career stages and job types (including non-academic staff, such as professional services and technicians)

   

• 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.
    • 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.
  • 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

  A call was been sent out, via Directors of Research, and other fora, to ask for expressions of interest.