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UK Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK and GuildHE are leading efforts to investigate potential indicators of research integrity. Their work builds on the principles and commitments in the UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity and aims to explore indicators that could help research organisations, funders of research and research infrastructures, researchers, publishers and others to identify and promote high levels of research integrity. Research Consulting was commissioned to undertake a preliminary exploration of the topic between November 2021 and May 2022, with findings summarised in a discussion document available to download in the dedicated Zenodo community. The present document provides a summary of a workshop focusing on the discussion document and aiming to provide insights into possible next steps in this project. To better contextualise the issues discussed in this workshop summary report, it is recommended that the discussion document is read first. Anonymised quotes from participants are included throughout this document to illustrate some of the points discussed., This study has been funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and GuildHE. For more information, contact UKRI at: researchintegrity@ukri.org.

The Research on Research Institute (RoRI) was established in 2019 with a mission to accelerate transformational and translational research on research systems, cultures and decision-making. Its pilot phase ran over two years, from late 2019 to the end of 2021, and its second phase will run for five years, from 2022 to 2027. In early 2022, RoRI commissioned Carter Research Navigation to provide a rapid-yet-robust, independent review of RoRI’s pilot phase. The primary method was a series of targeted stakeholder interviews, with some examination of documentary materials. The evaluation concludes that RoRI has demonstrated strong overall performance, being well organised and producing some serious, well-designed studies; despite the pandemic restricting interactions. Interviewees were all positively engaged and constructive. RoRI has a number of features that are important reasons that participants engage, and need to be protected: an environment of trust; strong co-creation & multiple forms of co-working; funders as partners, subjects and beneficiaries; dialogue being as important as outputs; enabling the translation of research into practice. Challenges and areas that need more work in Phase 2 include: supporting diversity, in all its forms; communication and community engagement; the range of translational and innovation pathways; ongoing partner and stakeholder engagement; data sharing; and organisational, intellectual and economic sustainability.

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is an important cause of upper and lower respiratory tract disease in individuals of all ages. It is estimated that most individuals will be infected by HMPV by the age of 5 years old. Despite this burden of disease, there remains caveats in our knowledge of virus global genetic diversity due to a lack of HMPV sequencing, particularly at whole genome scale. The purpose of this study was to create a simple and robust approach for HMPV whole genome sequencing to be used for genomic epidemiological studies. To design our assay, all available HMPV full length genome sequences were downloaded from the NCBI GenBank database and used to design four primer sets to amplify long, overlapping amplicons spanning the viral genome and, importantly, specific to all known HMPV subtypes. These amplicons were then pooled and sequenced on an Illumina iSeq; however the approach is suitable to other common NGS platforms. We demonstrate the utility of this method using a representative subset of clinical samples and examine these sequences using a phylogenetic approach. Here we present an amplicon-based method for the whole genome sequencing of HMPV from clinical extracts that can be used to better inform genomic studies of HMPV epidemiology and evolution.

This Executive Summary summarises the report which Springer Nature commissioned Research Consulting to produce providing preliminary evidenceon the current and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on research activities within universities. It focusses on two higher education systems, in the UK and Australia, which are particularly reliant on international student fees to cross-subsidise research. However, many of the findings are equally applicable to higher education and research systems globally, as are the risks of failing to protect investment in these systems over the coming years.

Springer Nature commissioned Research Consulting to produce a report providing preliminary evidenceon the current and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on research activities within universities. This report focuses on two higher education systems, in the UK and Australia, which are particularly reliant on international student fees to cross-subsidise research. However, many of the findings are equally applicable to higher education and research systems globally, as are the risks of failing to protect investment in these systems over the coming years.