University of Melbourne releases its first Research Integrity Report
The University of Melbourne has released its inaugural Research Integrity Report, reflecting its commitment to transparency in sharing the practices, standards and processes that support research excellence.
The report, which covers 1 January to 31 December 2025, supports the University’s aspiration to lead with integrity and openness as articulated in its strategy Advancing Research 2030: Excellence for Impact.
University of Melbourne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mark Cassidy AM said the University is committed to providing open, relevant and useful information to the community about how research is undertaken.
“We live in a time when trust in evidence-based research and expertise is increasingly under threat, largely due to the volume of misinformation shared on social media,” Professor Cassidy said.
“Our society relies on trusted research excellence, breakthroughs and innovation to address the complex global challenges we are facing.
“By sharing the robust governance behind our world-class research, we aim to empower the community to trust the quality and validity of university research.
“The University is committed to being transparent about how our research integrity is governed and enabling the Australian community to understand how these processes work.
“Research integrity is a collective responsibility, and we are committed to refining our practices and upholding the highest standards as we advance research excellence for impact.”
Throughout 2025, the University managed 60 research integrity complaints related to 113 concerns, with 45 new complaints (involving 84 concerns) received during the year.
Concerns were submitted by external people (24%), anonymous (20%), our academics (35%), our professional staff (18%) and our students (3%).
The Research Integrity Report 2025 details how complaints were resolved or dismissed, and what corrective actions were taken where potential breaches were identified.
The most common integrity concerns were authorship practices (18%), plagiarism (14%), falsification or fabrication of data (14%), breach of ethics approval (11%), lack of ethics approval or permit (11%) and conflict of interest (8.5%).
“Throughout 2025, our education and communication activities responded directly to emerging themes in research integrity concerns,” Professor Cassidy said.
“Our actions included tailored training for supervisors, mandatory compliance checks for human research ethics approvals and an internal campaign to support researchers in using AI tools effectively and responsibly.”
Key actions taken in 2025:
- Two investigations into possible research misconduct commenced
- Four corrections to the public record about research affiliations or findings
- 22 requirements for researchers or faculties to remedy a breach and prevent recurrence
- 29 requests for academic counselling or further training.
The University implemented its new Responsible Conduct of Research Policy (MPF1318) which took effect on 1 July 2026. This includes the Responsible Conduct of Research Breaches Procedure (MPF1391).
The University’s Research Integrity Online Training course was reviewed and updated in 2025 and is mandatory for all staff undertaking and supporting research in 2026.
The University community and anyone external to the institution can submit a concern about our research conduct through our Office of Research Ethics and Integrity. Anonymous concerns are accepted.
Note: A complaint about research conduct may include multiple concerns. We treat every potential breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2018 as a separate concern.