Recommendations & Conclusions
11 items
10
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Research institutions should model a culture of reproducibility by managing inordinate pressures on academics and encouraging the prioritisation of reproducibility in research outputs. This extends to encouraging openness around mistakes and their correction. In collaboration with the Higher Education Sector, Universities UK should implement a coordinated policy on minimum protected …
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating it does not require a formal response from the government on some aspects. It highlights UKRI's extensive existing work to shift incentives in the research system, including changes to the REF process and …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
11
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Statistical experts and software developers are insufficiently recognised and renumerated within the university research sector. Funders and universities should develop dedicated funding for the presence of statistical experts and software developers in research teams. In tandem, universities should work on developing formalised, aspirational career paths for these professions.
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, agreeing on the need for better recognition of statistical experts and software developers and citing existing UKRI initiatives. However, it states there is insufficient evidence that new dedicated funding streams would be more beneficial …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
15
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Short-term research grants place restrictive limitations on researchers, which can be to the detriment of research integrity and reproducibility. UKRI should consult with a representative sample of researchers to understand whether their grants allow them sufficient time and funding to do the work needed for ensuring their research is reproducible. …
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, stating UKRI already funds a range of long-term projects and believes changing incentives is crucial beyond just grant length. While committed to continuing stakeholder work and experimenting with funding approaches, it does not explicitly …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
17
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
The trend towards blanket open access in the communication of scientific outputs is positive. UKRI and other research funders should continue to implement open access policies until this figure reaches 100%, by the end of 2025 at the latest.
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, supporting the aspiration for 100% open access and detailing UKRI's existing policy and its expansion to monographs from January 2024. However, it notes complexities in implementation requiring action from various stakeholders, implying a lack …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
18
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Currently, research outputs are frequently published without an associated link through to their open-source data and code. This prevents other researchers assessing work for its reproducibility. In all bar the most exceptional ethical and legal situations, researchers should share their research data and code alongside published outputs.
Government response. The UKRI open access policy seeks to ensure that research articles, monographs, book chapters and edited collections that acknowledge its funding are made freely accessible. UKRI welcomes and supports the aspiration for 100% of UK research articles to be open …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
19
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Journals should collectively encourage researchers to employ the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse of digital assets) principles within their research and should mandate the deposition of research data in open- access repositories alongside the publication of research outputs.
Government response. The UKRI open access policy seeks to ensure that research articles, monographs, book chapters and edited collections that acknowledge its funding are made freely accessible. UKRI welcomes and supports the aspiration for 100% of UK research articles to be open …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
21
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Providing adequate funding for replication studies is an important precondition for ensuring researchers have the resources necessary to conduct them. UKRI should learn from its Dutch equivalent, NWO, by developing a pilot programme to fund replication studies.
Government response. The government partially accepts, stating UKRI will learn from NWO's pilot but does not commit to developing its own. They highlight existing funding mechanisms for replication studies and will consider increasing focus on metascience through a new caucus.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
23
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Publishers have a vital role in the maintenance of the scholarly record. Publishers should support academics who report issues with published research in their journals and should commit to timely publication of research error corrections and retractions where necessary—in our view this process should not take longer than two months. …
Government response. The government welcomes the support from the Committee for increasing the use of registered reports to enhance reproducibility, however further evaluation of the costs and benefits of registered report partnership models is needed.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
25
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
The Future Research Assessment Programme (FRAP) is consulting on reforms for the assessment of UK higher education research. It should review the Research Excellence Framework assessment criteria to assure that transparency is a prerequisite of top- scoring research. It should also consider the effects of removing ‘originality’ from the top …
Government response. The government partially accepts, stating that decisions on the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) fall to funding bodies, but the new framework will include assessment of integrity, openness, transparency, and research reproducibility, with detailed criteria developed in 2024.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
26
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Researchers should be assessed on the broader contributions to their academic field, including time spent conducting voluntary peer review and promoting reproducibility and research integrity. Funders, led by UKRI, should move towards the exclusive use of the ‘resume for researchers’ format in funding calls by 2025.
Government response. The government partially accepts, declining to commit all funders to the exclusive use of the R4RI format by 2025. However, UKRI is committed to adopting R4RI across its own funding opportunities by the end of 2023 and is working with …
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
27
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Rese…
Accepted in Part
Peer review should not be viewed as a binary measure of quality versus unreliability for published papers. There is a wide range of competency, depth, and rigour in the analyses carried out during peer review as time-poor academics often do not have time to conduct detailed scrutiny. Where possible, journals …
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation by welcoming the support for increasing the use of registered reports to enhance reproducibility, but notes that further evaluation of the costs and benefits of registered report partnership models is needed.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology