Sixth Report - Reproducibility and Research Integrity

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 a £4.5 million commitment to the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN), to promote research integrity and reproducibility.

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 than integrating support into existing funds.

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 commit to a new consultation with researchers or a dedicated trial funding programme for 'slower' science.

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 of commitment to the specific 2025 deadline.

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 access.

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 access.

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.

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.

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.

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 other funders to encourage broader adoption.

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.