Research Integrity - Scottish Funding Council

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Concordat to Support Research Integrity

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is a signatory to the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. The Concordat provides a national framework for good research conduct and its governance. It supports government, business, international partners and the public to continue to have confidence in UK research and its world-leading researchers.

As a signatory to the Concordat, SFC is committed to promoting and supporting:

The highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research.
Research being conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards.
A research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice, and support for the development of researchers.
The use of transparent, timely, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct should they arise.
Strengthening the integrity of research and reviewing progress regularly and openly.
Collaboration with other groups and parties to strengthen the implementation of the Concordat.

Organisations in the UK that employ researchers are expected to publish an annual statement which reports on progress towards meeting the responsibilities outlined in the Concordat. This statement must be approved by the organisation’s governing body. Its publication supports the principles of accountability and transparent and open communication.

Universities receiving SFC’s core research grants are required to provide a link to their most recent annual statement on research integrity as part of their Research Assurance and Accountability return. We encourage the institutions we fund to use the Concordat annual statement template; however, this is not mandatory.

SFC Research Integrity Policy

A new Scottish Funding Council research integrity policy was published in May 2026 and will come into effect on 1 September 2026. This policy will apply to Scottish universities which receive research and innovation funding from SFC and to research activities which are directly funded by SFC.

As a public funder of research and signatory to the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, SFC has responsibilities to:

Only provide funding to organisations that can demonstrate that appropriate structures, policies, and procedures are in place to support integrity in their research activities.
Publish clear, proportionate, and relevant expectations of the organisations we fund. This includes publishing clear statements of what constitutes research misconduct and ensuring that recipients of funding are aware of requirements regarding the investigation and reporting of potential research misconduct.
Take appropriate action when research misconduct is reported to us, which may include actions related to individuals or review of the processes and systems of organisations to help them identify and act on issues.

The Research Integrity Policy is intended to support SFC in fully meeting these responsibilities and will complement our established research assurance mechanisms.

As set out in the policy, SFC is not an appeals body for individual cases of alleged research misconduct and cannot provide support for institutions or individuals involved in investigations. Similarly, SFC does not grant ethical clearance for research projects and is unable to advise on research ethics.

Further information

Any questions about SFC’s Research Integrity Policy, or our role in supporting cross-UK initiatives, should be sent to researchintegrity@sfc.ac.uk.

Research integrity is overseen at SFC by SFC’s Director of Investment & Research.