TL;DR: Miles Padgett, who co-leads the UK Committee on Research Integrity (UKCORI), told the inaugural UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) conference in Manchester in July 2026 that UKCORI has no operations planned beyond 2027. He sketched a scenario for a new, centralised UK research-integrity body that could publish annual misconduct data and push funders toward common notification terms — but, per reporting by Research Professional News, this is a proposal he raised for discussion, not a confirmed UKRI or government decision, and no funding, mandate, or timeline for it has been announced.
What UKCORI is
The UK Committee on Research Integrity (UKCORI) is a free-standing committee funded and hosted by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on behalf of the UK research sector. It was established in 2022 following a 2018 recommendation from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee that the UK give more systematic attention to research integrity. UKCORI’s remit has been to provide strategic leadership on integrity issues, build consensus across funders, universities, and publishers, and publish an annual statement on the state of research integrity in the UK, including some misconduct-related data. It sits alongside, and is distinct from, the longer-standing UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), which provides advisory and casework support rather than sector-wide policy leadership.
The wind-down signal
Speaking at the UKRN conference, Padgett said UKCORI currently has no operations planned beyond 2027. This is a statement from one of the committee’s own co-leads about its operating horizon, reported by Research Professional News — at the time of writing there is no separate public announcement from UKRI or UKCORI itself formally confirming closure, a wind-down date, or the reasoning behind it. Readers evaluating this for planning purposes should treat 2027 as the horizon UKCORI’s own leadership has publicly flagged, not yet as a formally published closure decision with a stated rationale. CASRAI will update this page if UKRI or UKCORI publish anything more formal.
What a successor body might look like — and what’s actually confirmed
Padgett used his conference remarks to sketch, in his own words, a scenario for how a new, centralised UK research-integrity agency could work if one were created. It is important to be precise about the status of this idea: it is a proposal floated by one committee co-lead in a conference talk, not an announced government or UKRI policy, and it comes with no confirmed funding, statutory basis, or launch date. The elements he described, per that reporting, include:
- Publishing annual misconduct data. UKCORI already produces an annual statement that includes some misconduct-related figures; Padgett suggested a successor body could expand on this and develop new metrics.
- Harmonised funder notification terms. He raised the question of whether it would help if all funders had the same terms and conditions governing when they expect to be notified about research misconduct in work they fund — addressing the current patchwork where notification obligations vary by funder and by publisher.
- Sector convening. A centralised body could take on a communication and coordination role, bringing funders, publishers, and researchers together to work toward more consistent practice.
- Horizon-scanning. He also floated a forward-looking function to anticipate emerging integrity risks before they become widespread problems.
Notably, Padgett reportedly framed this explicitly as a new body rather than a rebranded UKCORI — under the scenario he described, UKCORI itself would cease to exist, with certain functions instead centrally curated and funded on behalf of the sector.
What this means for institutions, funders, and publishers
Nothing here requires immediate action: there is no new reporting obligation, no confirmed body, and no legislative or funder-policy change yet on the table. What research offices, funders, and publishers can reasonably do now is treat this as an early signal worth tracking rather than a settled roadmap:
- Research integrity officers and institutional compliance teams should note that UKCORI’s own leadership has publicly flagged 2027 as an operating horizon, and watch for a more formal UKRI statement, since institutional processes that currently reference UKCORI guidance or its annual statement may need review if the committee’s role changes.
- Funders already differ in when and how they expect to be notified of a research misconduct finding involving their grants; the harmonisation idea, if it advances, would be directly relevant to how research integrity officers manage multi-funder notification obligations.
- Publishers face a similar patchwork today in how misconduct concerns are communicated to and from funders and institutions; a convening body with a harmonisation mandate would sit adjacent to existing frameworks such as the Concordat to Support Research Integrity and COPE guidance, rather than replacing them outright.
CASRAI’s baseline recommendation, consistent with how we treat any not-yet-confirmed policy proposal: keep existing UKCORI-referencing processes in place until there is a formal announcement, and revisit this page as UKRI, UKCORI, or the UK government publish anything more definitive.
Frequently asked questions
Is UKCORI definitely closing in 2027?
What’s confirmed, per reporting on a UKRN conference talk by UKCORI co-lead Miles Padgett, is that UKCORI currently has no operations planned beyond 2027. That is a statement from within the committee’s own leadership about its operating horizon, not (as of this writing) a separate, formal closure announcement from UKRI with a stated rationale. Institutions should watch for a more formal statement rather than treat 2027 as a legally fixed end date.
Has the UK government or UKRI approved a new research-integrity agency?
No. What exists is a scenario one UKCORI co-lead described in a conference presentation for how a centralised body could function if created. No funding, statutory mandate, or launch timeline has been confirmed publicly.
Would a new agency replace UKRIO?
UKRIO is a separate, independently funded advisory body that predates UKCORI and provides casework and advisory support rather than sector-wide data publication or policy leadership. The scenario described for a new centralised body focuses on functions closer to UKCORI’s current remit — annual data publication and sector coordination — not UKRIO’s advisory casework function.
Sources
- Research Professional News, “Beefed-up UK public body for research integrity mooted” (July 2026)
- UKCORI — Our governance
- UKRI — Integrity of research
