Research Integrity

Research misconduct is defined in SETU's Code of Conduct for Responsible Practice of Research as behaviours that deliberately or recklessly fall short of standards expected in the conduct of research. An offence constitutes research misconduct if it affects the integrity of the research record. 

The most serious misconduct behaviours include fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. However, there are also other unacceptable research practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the research community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research, and serious or repeated examples of such practices can constitute research misconduct. 

Research misconduct does not include honest error or honest differences in the design, execution, interpretation or judgment in evaluating research methods or results, or misconduct unrelated to the research process. Similarly, it does not include poor research per se unless there is an intention to deceive.

For more information on what constitutes research misconduct and additional details on the most serious misconduct behaviours, please refer to SETU's Code of Conduct for Responsible Practice of Research.

Unacceptable research practice

While fabrication, falsification and plagiarism are very serious issues, other poor research practices may lead to questions around the integrity of research and impact on the reputation of the researcher, the research team or the university. A combination of poor practice and repeated issues in maintaining data integrity may constitute research misconduct.

The practices include the following and are not confined to:

Research procedures; Misconduct relating to research procedures may include harmful or dangerous research methods, poor research design including experimental and computational errors. Other poor research procedures include the violation of human subject protocols and/or failure to protect human subjects from harm and the abuse or mistreatment of laboratory animals.

Data-related practices; This includes poor practices in preserving the primary data for the specified period, poor data management including the storage and sharing of research data and failure to destroy data timely or appropriately. Withholding data from the scientific community also constitutes data related misconduct.

Publication-related practices; This includes the claiming of undeserved authorship, denying authorship to contributors, including authors without permission and artificially proliferating publications. Failure to correct the publication record is also research misconduct.

Personal behaviours; This includes significant deficiencies in supervision of the next generation of researchers and scholars, inappropriate personal behaviour in any form, harassment or insensitivity to social or cultural norms.

Financial and other misconduct; Misconduct may result from the non-disclosure of conflicts of interest, peer review abuse, misrepresenting credentials or publication record, misuse or research funds and/or for personal gain or making up a false, malicious or unsubstantiated misconduct allegations.

Anyone engaged in research activities at SETU is required to complete mandatory Research Integrity (RI) Training which is delivered as an online course through the training provider Epigeum. Under the new revised National Policy Statement for Research Integrity in Ireland (Dec 2024) it has been recommended that this training be repeated at least every five years.  A new version of the Epigeum RI training was launched in September 2024 (called “Research Integrity Second Edition (Ire)”) with many new additions and a stronger focus on Irish higher education institutions. 

Previously researchers registered and completed the training directly on the epigeum website. However, the training has been transferred to SETU’s two VLEs and this is where you must register and complete the training from now on (you can access it on Moodle in Waterford and on Blackboard in Carlow). To access the training on moodle you will be asked to type in the following enrollment key “seturesearch”.  As a result, no new registrations will be accepted on the epigeum website. Please note that if you have already registered and started the RI training on the epigeum website you will not be affected by this change. You may continue to complete it there and download your cert there ( until End of June 2025). 

The Epigeum RI training includes a robust certification framework based on key learner outcomes. It consists of 8 core modules and 5 supplementary modules and takes about 4-5 hours to complete. You are expected to complete all 8 modules and to download your certificate of completion at the end. It is essential that you hold on to your certificate as this will be required for internal audit, for applications to the Research Ethics Committee and is required by external funding agencies. Postgraduate research students also have to demonstrate that they have this certificate within the first 12 months of starting their programme. 

You can make informal contact with the RICO if you have a concern about research integrity and research practices at SETU. Informal contact does not mean you are raising a complaint or initiating a formal investigation. The RICO is there to provide confidential support and advice. 

Any postgraduate research student, researcher, individual or external body (e.g., a funding agency or a publisher) who believes that an act of research misconduct has occurred or is occurring should make a complaint in writing through the completion and submission of a Complaint Form to the RIO at [email protected]. If supporting evidence is available, the complainant should also submit this along with the complaint form.

Any postgraduate student, researcher, individual or external body receiving an allegation about research misconduct should refer the complainant to the RIO.

SETU's Export Control Policy was published on the 21st of January 2025, and is available at this link. To find out more about export controls, please visit here. 

In March 2025, SETU's Head of Commercialisation, Dr. James O'Sullivan, and SETU's Research Integrity and Compliance Officer, Dr. Kim Murphy, delivered training to SETU researchers and lecturers titled "Export Controls: What Every Researcher Needs to Know Before Its Too Late!". 

We strongly recommend that all postgraduate research students, researchers and lecturers, particularly in the fields of science and engineering, complete this training, and inform yourself about how this legislation could potentially impact your research, lecturing and supervision.

The training is available on Moodle (Waterford) and Blackboard (Carlow). On Moodle you will find the training on a dedicated page for export controls. On blackboard, you will find the training in a dedicated section as part of the research integrity training page. In order to complete the training and claim your certificate, you will be required to complete the following:

1. Watch a 40-minute video and accompanying slides titled "Export Controls: What Every Researcher Needs to Know Before Its Too Late!" delivered by Dr James O'Sullivan (Head of Innovation & Commercialisation) and Professor Kim Murphy (Research Integrity & Compliance Officer).
2. Complete the Epigeum "Introduction to Export Controls - Module".
3. Complete the "Introduction to Export Controls - Test".
4. Complete the Export Controls Post-Training Survey.

GenAI in Research

If you require resources on how to use GenAI responsibly, please visit the dedicated Generative AI Hubs on Moodle and Blackboard where you will find training on SETU's Staff Guidelines on the use of Gen AI and an AI Literacy Tutorial. You will also find SETU's Staff and Student Guidelines in the GenAI hubs.

If you have specific questions about the responsible, ethical and appropriate use of GenAI in research or training requirements, you can contact the Research Integrity and Compliance Officer (RIO) at [email protected]. The RIO chairs the Working Group on Gen AI in Research, a subgroup of SETU's AI Steering Committee. The full membership of the working group includes: Dr. Kim Murphy (Chair), Dr. Daire O'Broin, Dr. Martin Harrigan, Dr. Denise McGrath, Dr. Luke Power, Dr. Sinead O'Halloran, Dr. Brenda Murphy, Dr. Brian Casey and Dr. Brian Jackson.

AI Connect: Community of Practice

AI Connect is a Community of Practice established by the Working Group on Gen AI in Research that brings together researchers, PhD students and academic staff to explore the ethical and innovative use of generative AI in research. Launched in April 2025, the initiative supports the university’s commitment to responsible and forward-looking AI adoption by creating a space for dialogue, collaboration and skills development. Through workshops, guest lectures and collaborative sessions, AI Connect promotes AI literacy, encourages critical reflection on the opportunities and risks of AI, and contributes to the development of institutional guidance for researchers. Research active staff interested in learning more about using AI in research or contributing to discussions and events are welcome to join the community by signing up here.