Research Practice
A priority of the University Research Culture Programme
The University of Oxford enables ambitious research of exceptional quality. Accordingly, and in line with its Strategic Plan (2018–2024), the University supports the research community to conduct research and innovation activities with rigour, transparency, and respect.
Researchers at Oxford, regardless of career stage or job role, will benefit from policies, guidance, and training to apply the highest standards of practice when planning, designing, conducting, recording, reporting, and sharing their research findings, conclusions and any underpinning data, sources or materials.
This approach aligns with the expectations and commitments of various national and international Concordats, sector agreements, and cross-sector norms (such as the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, the Concordat on Open Research Data and the FAIR Principles for data management), and by research funders, professional societies, regulators and publishers.
The University acknowledges that good practice in research is constantly evolving, that the relevance of some practices may vary across disciplines, and that new tools and models are emerging in how research findings are published, disseminated, and evaluated, and in how contributions are acknowledged and recognised. Researchers are encouraged to embrace these innovations to enhance the visibility of, and trust in, their research. The University will regularly review its policies, guidance, and training to reflect such developments.
Research Practice is a priority of the broader Research Culture Programme, and this programme is supported by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research). The work for this priority is coordinated by the Research Practice Group, chaired by Professor Susanna-Assunta Sansone, the Academic Lead for Research Culture (Research Practice).
The tabs below give links and advice on steps that may need to be taken during each part of the research process to support and improve research practice. Not every step will apply to every project, but please read through each step, and follow the guidance if it is relevant to your research.
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What you need to do
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Why
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Further information and guidance
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| Access your Symplectic Elements account |
Symplectic Elements is the system that holds details of your publications, other research outputs, research grants and professional activities. It is used to manage your research portfolio. Find out how to access your Symplectic Elements account and go through the quick start guide |
Symplectic registration page |
| Get an ORCID |
An ORCID is a unique researcher identifier, used worldwide, that helps you link and display your publications even if you move institution. Register for an Oxford ORCID ID and link this to your Symplectic Elements account |
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| Take research integrity training | Training in research integrity or good practice in research is mandatory for all Oxford researchers. Online introductory training is available to meet this requirement and information about further ethics and integrity training is available at the link on the right. | Research integrity training |
| Begin your research data planning | Planning how you will manage and describe your research data will help you later on in your project when you come to publish and/or share your work. Consider at an early stage how your research data will be stored and shared and plan for the costs of this.
Bear in mind that University policy requires data to be securely held for as long as it has continuing value and for a minimum period of three years after the completion or publication of the research (or for longer if specified by the research funder or sponsor).
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Sustainable Digital Scholarship Service
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| Find out more about Open Access |
Making your publications, data, and code Open Access can increase the impact and visibility of your work. The University’s Open Access policy is to ensure the widest possible access to University research. Find out more about how you can make your research outputs open access and how to meet your funder’s requirements.
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Open Access policy and guidance
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| Consider reporting guidelines | Reporting guidelines are simple structured tools and checklists for researchers to use while preparing a manuscript | |
| Consider signing up for mentoring | Mentoring is a way for experienced researchers to share their knowledge and skills with new or less experienced researchers and students. By participating in a mentor/mentee relationship, mentors and mentees develop valuable skills that can further their own personal and professional development. | Mentoring resources |
| If you are working with humans or animals, or your research involves outside funders or collaborators then check the Compliance Checklist tab | Doing research on humans or animals, or sharing funding or data with other institutions means that there are compliance checks that need to be done. More information can be found in the Compliance Checklist tab above or at the link on the right. | Compliance Checklist |
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What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
| Get an ORCID |
An ORCID is a unique researcher identifier, used worldwide, that helps you link and display your publications even if you move institution. Register for an Oxford ORCID ID and link this to your Symplectic Elements account |
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| Consider pre-registering your study | When you pre-register your research, you specify your research plan and register this in a public registry before starting a study. This improves research transparency, accountability and credibility and helps to eliminate poor practice such as HARKing (Hypothesizing after the results are known) and p-hacking (manipulating data analysis to enable a favoured result to be significant). | |
| Discuss authorship and publication with research supervisors and group leaders |
Researchers should begin discussions about authorship at an early stage (within their group or department) given that roles and contributions to outputs may change throughout the research. These discussions should cover, in general, what the criteria are for a person to be listed as an author of a publication. Researchers should be aware of the authorship practices within their own discipline and any guidelines set by the journals in which they hope to publish. |
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| Consider using CRediT in publications and other research outputs | The CRedIT taxonomy sets out 14 roles that can be used to represent those typically played by contributors to a scholarly output. This has been widely adopted by a range of publishers to improve accessibility and visibility of the range of contributions made to published research outputs. |
Publication and Authorship guidance Documenting contributions to scholarly articles using CRediT and tenzing |
| Prepare fieldwork risk assessment and consider the ethical implications of fieldwork |
If your research involves fieldwork or overseas travel, you will need to complete a risk assessment to ensure that this can be covered by University travel insurance. There may be ethical and equity-related challenges that you should consider and prepare for, particularly if you are working across disciplines, cultures, and country contexts. |
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| Prepare a data management plan |
A data management plan documents how data will be managed throughout the whole research lifecycle. It should cover how data will be handled during the active phase of research, and longer term questions of preservation and sharing. The plan should be updated and revised as a project develops. A DMP asks you to consider questions such as: What metadata should I generate to aid re-use? What is the ownership status of the data I create or re-use? Where is the best place for me to share or deposit my data (e.g. if a funder needs to know this)? Which (if any) of Oxford's research data storage facilities should I use, given my aims and collaborators? What data format best suits my purposes? What data format would best suit any re-use scenarios? Does accessing my data come with responsibilities around the use of specific or categories of IT systems? |
Data management plans guidance |
| Complete the data privacy training | If you are using data from research subjects, then complete the data privacy awareness training module, to gain a better understanding of your responsibilities in relation to your research subjects’ data. | Data privacy training |
| Think about which standards and repositories you need to use to represent and store your research outputs |
Standards and repositories are useful parts of storing, sharing and archiving your data for future reuse and replicability of your research. The FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, |
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Apply for ethics review and approval for research involving human participants and personal data |
You will need to apply for ethics review and have all necessary approvals in place before the start of your research. Generally, if your research involves human participants, personal data, and/or human tissue/samples , you will need some kind of ethics approval. There are different levels of ethics review depending on the risk level of the research. Use the flow chart on the 'How to apply for ethical review' page to check if your research needs an Ethics approval. If you are still unsure, you can ask for an opinion on this by completing the short form on the 'Study classification' page and sending it to the Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance (RGEA) Sponsorship team. You may wind up following either a University research ethics pathway or a NHS research ethics pathway (use the tool in the "how to apply for ethics review" link). This will impact the type of data protection documentation you will have to complete.
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Apply for ethics review and approval for research involving animals |
If you are carrying out research on animals, you will need to apply for ethics review and have all necessary approvals in place before the start of your research. For more information, please visit Biomedical Sciences for how to gain those ethical approvals. | Biomedical Services for questions about animal research |
| Get approval for clinical research and trials |
If you are conducting clinical research and trials you will need to ensure that additional governance approvals are in place before the start of your research. For clinical research, you will need the University to 'sponsor' your research. Find about more about the sponsorship application process using the links to the right. For clinical trials, follow the steps as set out in the "clinical trials and research governance guidance" link on the right. Some university studies will need Health Research Authority (HRA) approval to take place in the NHS. |
Clinical trials and research governance guidance Applying for sponsorship approval |
| Plan how you will carry out collaborative research (including trusted research) |
When working collaboratively with colleagues within Oxford or with other organisations, it is important that all researchers have a shared understanding of their respective responsibilities and what constitutes good practice in research. Norms will vary between disciplines, institutions and countries and there should be a shared agreement, from the outset as to how the research will be conducted and reported, to avoid potential misunderstandings and disagreements. If your research involves collaboration with international partners, there may be specific legal and compliance issues for you to consider. |
Collaborative research guidance Trusted research- guidance for international research collaborations |
| Plan your research design | Good experimental design and proper use of statistics is essential to good practice in research, in order to ensure that research is reliable and reproducible. | |
| Manage conflicts of interest | Ethical and responsible science requires the declaration of conflicts of interest, as these conflicts may introduce (unintentional) biases to the reported results, and lead to article retractions. Consider whether you have any actual or perceived conflict of interest that could apply to your research. If so, this should be declared and managed in line with University policy. |
Conflicts of interest- actions to take Research Integrity: Conflicts of Interest Conflict of Interest: Identifying interests and making declarations |
| Plan for responsible research and innovation | Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a science policy framework, which seeks to align technological innovation with broader social values. RRI aims to engage researchers and innovators to produce ethically acceptable, sustainable and socially desirable research and innovation outcomes. | Responsible research and innovation guidance |
| Plan your research impact | Research impact is the effect that your research has beyond academia, the demonstrable contribution that research makes to society and the economy. |
How to plan for and evaluate research impact
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What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
| Data: consider how to store and share live data | Data sharing is the process of making research data available for wider dissemination, increasing the research impact and making it more reproducible. It is important to have good processes in place for collecting or creating your data, and for working with it during the active phase of your research. This will enable you to get the most out of your data and will also help maximise its value longer term. | |
| Data: consider how to store, share and annotate data of longer-term value (in line with FAIR principles) | Data sharing is the process of making research data available for wider dissemination. The FAIR principles state that data and metadata should be: findable (easy to find for both humans and computers); accessible (accompanied by clear instructions for access and authorisation); interoperable (compatible with other data and/or tools); and reusable (suitably described to allow further use. | |
| Carry out collaborative research (including trusted research) |
When working collaboratively with colleagues within Oxford or with other organisations, it is important that all researchers have a shared understanding of their respective responsibilities and what constitutes good practice in research. Norms will vary between disciplines, institutions and countries and there should be a shared agreement, from the outset as to how the research will be conducted and reported, to avoid potential misunderstandings and disagreements. If your research involves collaboration with international partners, there may be specific legal and compliance issues for you to consider. |
Collaborative research guidance Trusted research-guidance for international research collaborations |
| Discuss intellectual property and conflicts of interest | Researchers should discuss within their group or department what intellectual property could be generated in the course of the research, how this can be protected and commercialised and whether this could present any conflicts of interest. This is particularly important prior to the start of any collaborative research. |
Intellectual property guidance |
| Consider safeguarding issues in research |
The University is committed to promoting a safe research environment, which is free from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, bullying, psychological abuse and physical violence, for all its researchers, research participants or others who may come into contact with University research. Find out more about the University’s safeguarding requirements and issues to consider when planning research. |
How to apply for ethics review of research involving human participants |
| Consider how to address concerns about research (questionable research practices, research misconduct) |
All researchers are expected to be committed to ethical principles and professional standards. Not upholding such standards, either intentionally or through lack of knowledge, damages the scientific process and may harm research participants, colleagues, the University and society as a whole. Misconduct or poor practice in research should be challenged. |
Research misconduct guidance |
| Consider publishing registered reports | A registered report is a form of publishing that helps you increase the transparency of your research, whereby you pre-register your research methods and proposed analyses and these are peer reviewed prior to the research being conducted. The decision to publish is made before the study is run and based on the importance of the research question and the rigour of the methods. Authors receive in-principle acceptance, a commitment from the journal to publish the study irrespective of the results. |
Registered reports - Centre for Open Science guidance |
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What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
| Get an ORCID ID |
An ORCID ID is a unique researcher identifier, used worldwide, that helps you link and display your publications even if you move institution. Register for an Oxford ORCID ID and link this to your Symplectic Elements account |
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| Consider using CRediT in publications and other research outputs | The CRedIT taxonomy sets out 14 roles that can be used to represent those typically played by contributors to a scholarly output. This has been widely adopted by a range of publishers to improve accessibility and visibility of the range of contributions made to published research outputs. |
Publication and authorship guidance Documenting contributions to scholarly articles using CRediT and tenzing |
| Pre-register your study | When you pre-register your research, you specify your research plan and register this in a public registry before starting a study. This improves research transparency, accountability and credibility and helps to eliminate poor practice such as HARKing (Hypothesizing after the results are known) and p-hacking (manipulating data analysis to enable a favoured result to be significant). | |
| Managing conflicts of interest | Consider whether you have any actual or perceived conflict of interest that could apply to any of your research outputs. If so, this should be declared and managed in line with University policy and any journal or publication requirements. |
Conflicts of interest - actions to take Research Integrity: Conflicts of Interest Conflict of Interest: Identifying interests and making declarations |
| Consider reporting guidelines | Reporting guidelines are simple structured tools and checklists for researchers to use while preparing a manuscript or report. |
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What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
| Prepare for open access publishing | Making your publications, data, and code Open Access can increase the impact and visibility of your work. The University’s Open Access policy is to ensure the widest possible access to University research. Find out more about ORA (the Oxford University Research Archive), how you can make your research outputs open access and how to meet your funder’s requirements. | |
| Consider publishing on pre-print servers |
A pre-print is an early version of a scholarly article generally published online ahead of submission to a peer-reviewed journal. There are many benefits to publishing a pre-print. It speeds up the publication of (preliminary) research results, it generates early feedback before journal submission and provides free access to research outcomes. Some funders advocate or require the use of pre-print servers. |
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| Get an ORCID |
An ORCID is a unique researcher identifier, used worldwide, that helps you link and display your publications even if you move institution. Register for an Oxford ORCID ID and link this to your Symplectic Elements account |
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| Consider using CRediT in publications and other research outputs | The CRedIT taxonomy sets out 14 roles that can be used to represent those typically played by contributors to a scholarly output. This has been widely adopted by a range of publishers to improve accessibility and visibility of the range of contributions made to published research outputs. |
Publication and authorship guidance Documenting contributions to scholarly articles using CRediT and tenzing |
| Get Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for your research outputs | A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique, persistent identifier (PID) for digital objects, often research outputs such as journal articles or research data, which allows such items to be easily retrieved and cited. Find out more about how to obtain a DOI and the advantages of having one. | Digital Object Identifiers guidance |
| Deposit your data in a data archive or repository |
Research data repositories or archives provide the best option for storing and publishing research data in the long term. They offer significant advantages over hosting a dataset on personal or departmental drives: in particular, they relieve the individual researcher of the responsibility of making sure the data remains available, and instead allow this to be handled by a body specialising in the curation of data. For data which is suitable for reuse, they are also one of the best ways of ensuring that data is made available to as wide an audience as possible. Increasingly, when datasets are deposited in a repository, they will be given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) so they can be cited and found. |
Oxford Research Archive for Data |
| Decide an appropriate license for your work |
Licensing is an important aspect of open research practice. By applying licenses to your outputs, you are able to clarify what others can - and can't - do with your work. Intellectual property (IP) can be a complex area, when applied to copyright and licensing of research outputs. |
Guide to copyright - Bodleian Libraries' guidance Guide to copyright and licensing for e-journals - Bodleian Libraries' guidance |
What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
| Use responsible metrics |
There are many metrics which can be used to assess research impact, some of which have been used in ways that are irresponsible. The University has signed up to DORA (the San Francisco Declaration of Research Assessment) and is committed to not assess the quality of an output by the journal in which it is published. DORA is part of a wider commitment to the responsible use of research metrics or indicators.
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Principles to promote responsible use of research metrics |
| Use a variety of indicators and metrics (citations, altmetrics, h-index) to evaluate your work |
Indicators such as citation counts and altmetrics can provide useful additional information about the quality and impact of journal articles. In addition to these article level metrics, the h-index is an author level metric that measures both the output volume and citation impact of an individual author, and tends to increase with length of career |
Bibliometrics and citations tracking - Bodleian Libraries' guidance |
| Develop your Narrative CV |
A narrative CV is a CV format that asks for written descriptions of contributions and achievements that reflect a broader range of skills and experience. This is different from a traditional metrics-based CV that is primarily a list of publications and research grants awarded, with employment and education history, but has little additional information or context provided. A narrative CV enables researchers to describe a wider range of outputs, outcomes and contributions to research. Increasingly, funders are moving towards requiring narrative CVs within funding applications. |
Learn more about developing a Narrative CV |
| Use CRediT in research outputs | The CRedIT taxonomy sets out 14 roles that can be used to represent those typically played by contributors to a scholarly output. This has been widely adopted by a range of publishers to improve accessibility and visibility of the range of contributions made to published research outputs. |
Publication and authorship guidance Documenting contributions to scholarly articles using CRediT and tenzing |
| Consider open peer review and post publication peer review |
Researchers should ensure that they understand the ethical obligations associated with peer review, including declaring conflicts of interest, seeking training if required. Open peer review is an increasingly important aspect of open research. Opening up what was traditionally a closed process aims to make the peer review process more transparent and accountable. It provides more opportunities to discover mistakes, validate findings and to increase overall trust in published research outputs. Post publication peer review takes place after a manuscript has been published and, unlike traditional peer review, the assessment process is generally open to the wider community. |
Peer review - University guidance Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers - COPE guidance |
The following checklist is a guide for researchers to help ensure compliance and best practice in research. Not every step will apply to every project, but please read through each step, and follow the guidance if it is relevant to your research.
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What you need to do |
Why |
Further information and guidance |
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Engage with Contracts, if outside funders or collaborators are involved, or if you are buying in a third-party tool or service. |
If you receive research funding for your project from an external source; are collaborating with others outside the University; will be transferring or sharing any confidential information, material or data; or will engage external consultants, contact Research Funding and Contracts to prepare the relevant agreements. If using a third-party tool or service provider for processing data, the University will also need a contract in place.
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| Engage with your department/faculty administration team and Research Services Trusted Research team, if overseas collaborators, funders, or suppliers are involved. | It is important to recognise and manage risks associated with international collaboration, particularly where the university and its researchers are subject to legislative or funder requirements such as due diligence, export control, NSI Act, Nagoya Protocol, and ATAS. The University provides support for this; please contact your department/faculty administration team in the first instance who will connect you with Research Services’ support if required. |
Trusted research |
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Check that information security controls are in place to manage the risk
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Technology systems can be a means of causing harm unless they are properly secured. If your research project is using technology systems and/or any kind of personal data follow the steps here. All Divisions and departments must have a Baseline Controls Security Assessment in place. to make sure that cyber security risk is properly managed. Confirm this with your departmental IT or Head of Department (HoD). If your systems aren't provided by your department, they must still be compliant with the University's baseline security controls. If uncertain, email grc@infosec.ox.ac.uk If your project involves personal data, the result of these checks will be a key input into your Data Protection by Design documentation (more detail in the link).
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Information Security general information How to classify information including personal data |
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As part of your induction, ensure you have done the University’s mandated cyber security training
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Everyone in the University must complete cyber security training, to help us keep our systems and data safe from attack. |
Cyber security information and training
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Ensure Information Security for Third Party Suppliers
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If you are using any suppliers that will collect, process or manage data, check if they are on the Third Party Supplier register. If they are not, have your supplier complete a Third Party Security Assessment to make sure that its security controls are compliant with Oxford's standards and that cyber security risk is properly managed. If uncertain, email grc@infosec.ox.ac.uk. If your project involves personal data, the result of these checks will also be a key input into your Data Protection by Design documentation. |
Third Party Security Assessment
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Complete the data privacy training
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If you are using data from research subjects, then complete the data protection awareness training module, to gain a better understanding of your responsibilities in relation to your research subjects’ data. |
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If you are transferring personal data internationally, check if there is a UK adequacy regulation
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If any personal data are to be transferred internationally to a third party and you are following a University ethics review pathway, you will need to check if the destination has a UK adequacy regulation. Approach Research Funding and Contracts to ensure the contractual agreements with the third party address the transfer, and complete an International Transfer Risk Assessment. Attach it to your data protection assessment (DPA) or data protection impact assessment (DPIA) for submission to your data protection risk owner to approve - your head of department (or equivalent). If you are unsure whether you are making a transfer, seek advice from Information.compliance@admin.ox.ac.uk.
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List of destinations with a UK adequacy regulation for international data transfers |
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Apply for ethics review and approval for researching involving human participants
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You will need to apply for ethics review and have all necessary approvals in place before the start of your research. Generally, if your research involves human participants, personal data and/or human tissue/samples, you will need some kind of ethics approval. There are different levels of ethics review depending on the risk level of the research. Use the flow chart on the 'Where and how to apply for ethical review' page to check if your research needs an Ethics approval, and what kind of approval. If you are still unsure, you can ask for an opinion on this by completing the short form on the 'Study classification' page and sending it to the RGEA Sponsorship team. If your project needs NHS research ethics approval, this will impact the type of data protection documentation you must complete.
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Where and how to apply for ethics review |
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If you are using personal data in your research complete the Data Protection by Design forms
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Data is a highly valuable resource and needs to be carefully looked after. If you are following a University ethics review pathway and you are using personal data in any way, you have a responsibility to keep the data safe and protect your research subjects from any harm. Anyone handling personal data at Oxford must be compliant with the UK's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Complete a data protection screening form to establish if your project presents a higher data protection risk to participants. Submit the screening form to your data protection risk owner for approval - your head of department (or equivalent). If your project has been screened as lower risk, complete a data protection assessment (DPA) for submission to your data protection risk owner to approve - your head of department (or equivalent). If your project has been screened as high risk, or if your funder or a third party you are working with (e.g. a data registry) requires it, complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) for submission to your data protection risk owner to approve. Once approved, submit the DPIA to the Information Compliance Team at Information.compliance@admin.ox.ac.uk for a formal consultation response on behalf of the University’s Data Protection Officer. The DPIA requires some time and effort to complete. Start this process as early as possible.
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UoO data protection screening form UoO Data Protection Assessment form UoO Data Protection Impact Assessment template Data Protection by Design - UoO data protection framework International transfers of personal data Guidance on working with third parties for your research project |
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Check if your project needs NHS ethics approval
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If your project needs NHS approval, or it is going via sponsorship review process, it will be subject to a privacy review via Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance. This review can stand in place of the University’s Data Protection by Design documentation. If the project is sending personal data outside the UK to a third party in a destination that does not have a UK adequacy regulation, approach the Research Funding & Contracts team to ensure your contractual agreements address the transfer and complete an international transfer risk assessment. Submit the risk assessment to your data protection risk owner to approve – your head of department (or equivalent). If you are unsure whether you are making a transfer, seek advice from Information.compliance@admin.ox.ac.uk.
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Research Governance Ethics and Assurance List of destinations with a UK adequacy regulation for international data transfers |
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If you are doing clinical research and trials, get the right approvals
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If you are conducting clinical research and trials you will need to ensure that additional governance approvals are in place. For clinical research, you will need the University to 'sponsor' your research. Find about more about the sponsorship application process. For clinical trials, follow the steps as set out in the link. Some university studies will need Health Research Authority (HRA) approval to take place in the NHS.
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Clinical trials and research governance guidance Applying for sponsorship approval Preparation for clinical trials Health Research Authority information
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Follow the procedures for animal research |
If you are conducting animal research, visit Biomedical Services |
Guidance on Research Practice
- Before you start
- Planning your research
- Conducting your research
- Transparency in reporting
- Sharing and publishing your research
- Getting credit for your research
Contact the Research Practice Group
For further information about the Research Practice Programme, contact Sarah Callaghan (Research Practice Manager) - sarah.callaghan@admin.ox.ac.uk
Research Practice Group webpage
Community Driven Initiatives
- UK Reproducibility Network
- Reproducible Research Oxford (RROx)
- FAIR Principles
- TRUST Principles for digital repositories
- CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance
- FAIRsharing Community Programme
- Oxford Festival of Open Scholarship 2023
Key University policies relating to research practice
- Academic integrity in research: code of practice and procedure
- Conflict of Interest policy
- Open Access Publications policy
- Research Data Management policy
- Policy on the ethical conduct of research involving human participants and personal data
- Intellectual property policy
- Policy A-Z – quick access to University research-related policies and procedures
