Annex B - Further resources
Patient and public involvement in research
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) describe different ways in which patients, carers and the public can get involved in research. It also contains a resource that can help people find out about health and social care research studies taking place across the UK.
Based on research by the University of Oxford, Healthtalk.org features videos where people talk about their experience of taking part in research as a patient or member of the public. They cover topics such as:
- what patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is, and why it matters
- different ways in which people can get involved in health research
- difficulties and barriers to involvement
- suggestions for professional health researchers.
Learning and training resources for people involved in research
The Health Research Authority’s website signposts to several learning resources for the research community. This includes learning events and eLearning modules.
The NIHR provides various resources to help people develop their research knowledge and skills. This includes, for instance, training for people who are new to health and care research. There are also training courses on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) for people supporting clinical research delivery at the NHS, UK universities and other publicly funded organisations in England.
National guidance on addressing conflicts of interest in research
The following is a non-exhaustive list of guidance published by national bodies about addressing conflicts of interest in research:
- UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO): Code of Practice for Research: Promoting good practice and preventing misconduct. UKRIO, 2023. Accessed May 2024. In particular, see Sections 3.5 (regarding competing interests), 3.13.5 (regarding peer review), and 3.14.10 (regarding dissemination of research outputs).
- UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO): Recommended Checklist for Researchers. UKRIO, 2023. Accessed May 2024.
- British Medical Association: Transparency and doctors with competing interests – guidance from the BMA. BMA, 2024. Accessed May 2024.
- Medical Research Council: MRC ethics series. Good research practice: Principles and guidelines. MRC, 2014. Accessed May 2024. In particular, see section J (Conflicts of interest).
- Health Research Authority: Integrated Research Application System (IRAS): Collated Question-specific guidance for IRAS Form. Accessed May 2024. In particular, see Question A47 – Payment to researchers, and Question A48 - Conflicts of interest.
- National Research Ethics Advisors’ Panel: Conflict of Interests/Competing Interests. Health Research Authority, 2012. Accessed May 2024. According to the guidance, it ‘sets out a number of principles and possible solutions that might be applied by RECs [Research Ethics Committees] when considering how conflicts of interests/competing interests should be managed.’
