Shared Standards of Excellence

Shared standards of excellence which guide how we operate at all levels. Central to these standards are integrity, transparency and openness, ensuring that our research is ethical, accessible and open to scrutiny. We must assess research responsibly, trust and respect our colleagues, and hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical conduct.

Current activities and initiatives

Open Research: The University of Aberdeen is committed to open research, ensuring there are no barriers to sharing knowledge. Explore our Open Research pages for more information about how you can champion open research.

The University of Aberdeen launched the Research Publications Policy in November 2022 as part of our commitment to broadening access to research and supporting our authors. This initiative aims to maximise the reach and impact of our research by enabling authors to share their work widely in the format of their choice. Further expanding its scope, the policy was updated on November 1, 2024, to include longform publications, ensuring comprehensive support for diverse research formats.

Aberdeen University Press: Founded originally in 1900, Aberdeen University Press was relaunched in 2022 as a fully Open Access University Press and widened our remit to engage the full range of scholarship, including interdisciplinary work. Aberdeen University Press is an important component of wider work to expand the our open research capability and support a research culture that encourages openness and aligns with our ambitious long-term Aberdeen 2040 strategy.

Dignity at work and study: The Dignity at Work and Study Toolkit was launched in November 2024 and emphasises that everyone has the right to fair, respectful and dignified treatment whatever their level within the University or whatever point they are at in their studies or career.

Annual Review Project: will undertake a fundamental review of the annual review processes for all grades and categories of staff within the University, with the key aim of launching a new policy/procedure and supporting guidance materials and systems aligned with sector good practice and embodying the commitments of Aberdeen 2040.

Sector standards

The Concordat to Support Research Integrity is the UK’s national policy statement on research integrity. It asks universities, research institutes and individual researchers to commit to ensuring their work is underpinned by the highest standards of rigour and integrity. The University has been a signatory since 2013.

View our Annual Statement on Research Integrity.

The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is a worldwide, cross-disciplinary initiative which recognises the need to improve the ways in which scholarly research outputs are evaluated and seeks to encourage institutions, researchers, funders, publishers, and other key stake holders to develop and promote best practice. The University has been a signatory since 2020.

The UK Reproducibility Network aims to assist researchers, university administrators, public and private research funders and academic journals to work in partnership to raise the standard and quality of research. UKRN initiatives include the development of common training across career stages, aligning promotion and recruitment criteria to support open and reproducible research practices, and sharing best practice. The University was one of the first 10 UK institutions to join the network in 2019, Lesley MacRae is the UKRN Open Research Champion on behalf of the University.

The Athena Swan Charter aims to support greater inclusivity for people in all roles, of all gender identities, and those facing intersectional inequalities across the higher education sector. It empowers us as a University to make active commitments in line with gender equality goals, as well as recognise and reward gender equality work. The University has been a member of the Charter since 2011 and was re-awarded Bronze in 2021. Explore more about our work on Gender Equality.

Race Equality Charter aims to improve the representation, experience, progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students within higher education. It provides a framework through which institutions work to reflect and act on institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of the progression and success of racially minoritised staff and students. The University was awarded a Bronze Award in 2024.

Stonewall Scotland: The University is a Silver Stonewall Diversity Champion working to promote equality in the workplace.

External links and resources

The UK Research Integrity Office is an independent charity, offering support to the public, researchers and organisations to further good practice in academic, scientific and medical research. The University has been a subscriber since 2017.

The University fully endorses and implements a range of external policies, guidelines and frameworks, including those developed or adopted by major funding bodies (such as Research England, Scottish Funding Council (SFC), UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust) to provide a sector-wide benchmarking standard. These include: