Research integrity is supported through the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), and throughout the UTS research community.
Integrity advice and support
To support researchers in understanding their own and others’ research integrity responsibilities, UTS has appointed senior academic staff across campus to act as Research Integrity Advisers.
Their role is to be available for anyone who has a concern about the research conduct of UTS staff and offer confidential advice as to whether or not the concerning conduct might be considered an integrity breach, and if so what options are available to the person with the concern, which might include options for resolution, or for making a formal complaint.
Contact details for Research Integrity Advisors are available on StaffConnect (staff only), and any of them may be contacted by staff or students from across UTS.
To support HDR students, UTS has appointed Responsible Academic Officers within each Faculty. These are senior academic staff with delegated responsibility to make various student-related academic decisions relating to student progression.
How to raise a concern or make a complaint
If you have a concern, or wish to make a formal complaint about a suspected research integrity breach, you can report it:
- If your complaint is about UTS staff, speak to a research integrity advisor* or email your complaint to the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)
- If your complaint is about UTS students, submit to the responsible academic officer in accordance with section 16 of the Student Rules
* If you’re a UTS staff member or student, you are encouraged to discuss any concerns with a research integrity adviser in the first instance.
What happens next?
Written complaints are first assessed against the Guidelines for research integrity breaches to determine the best way to handle them.
Relatively minor breaches may be delegated to the relevant faculty or business unit. More serious potential breaches require more detailed investigation. Breaches that are not related to research integrity, but to some other issue such as discrimination or harassment are referred to the relevant unit.
UTS follows principles of procedural fairness outlined in the Australian Code in handling all complaints and managing investigations. These must be proportional, fair and impartial.
All complaints and investigations into conducted in confidence, where possible, and in the interest of all related parties.
Learning more about research integrity
All UTS staff and HDR students have access to introductory training modules through the Research Excellence and Support Hub (RES Hub), including on research integrity, and research data management. Through RES Hub, additional modules are planned for development throughout 2020.
Workshops are also offered to faculties, schools, research concentrations and research teams and can be requested at any time by emailing research.integrity@uts.edu.au
Finally, UTS supports best practice in research integrity education, both in Australia and internationally. For more information on research integrity, you are encouraged to explore the following links:
- Singapore Statement on Research Integrity – international principles for responsible research conduct
- The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct – an interactive movie where you become the lead characters of a research laboratory and make decisions about research integrity that can have long-term consequences (Source: US Office of Research Integrity)
- On Being a Scientist – a fictional film by Leiden University, following the experience of a number of characters involved in research together, and some moral dilemmas they face, which could be common to many.
