The Academy is a signatory of several Concordats/ declarations, which can be found below. Academy award holders and host institutions must, where applicable, adhere to the principles and obligations set out by them.
The Concordat on openness on animal research
Academy’s award holders, please read the brief on how this signatory affects your award.
This Concordat outlines best practise for being more open about animal research. The four commitments that signatories make are to:
- be clear about when, how and why animals are used in research
- enhance communications with the media and the public about research using animals
- be proactive in providing opportunities for the public to find out about research using animals
- report on progress annually and share experiences.
UK clinical academic training in medicine and dentistry: principles and obligations
This document sets out principles and obligations of all UK institutions and clinical trainees in receipt of nationally competitive funding for clinical academic research training.
Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
DORA recognises the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of scientific research are evaluated. It sets out 18 recommendations for change in scientific culture, particularly in relation to the use of journal impact factors to assess scientists for decisions on funding, appointment and promotion. We have made changes to our processes to align with this declaration. For example, an extra question was added to our grant application forms to give applicants a chance to explain how three of their publications have impacted their field of research. This is to ensure the impact of their research is considered rather than the impact factor of the journal the research is published in.
The Concordat to support the career development of researchers
This Concordat sets out seven key principles on the expectations and responsibilities of researchers, their managers, employers and funders. It aims to increase the attractiveness and sustainability of research careers in the UK and to improve the quantity, quality and impact of research for the benefit of UK society and the economy. We provide career development support to clinical and non-clinical biomedical researchers through events, workshops, mentoring and other schemes.
The Academy is a supporter of several Concordats/ declarations, which can be found below. Academy award holders and host institutions should, where possible, endorse the principles set out by them.
The Concordat to support research integrity
This Concordat provides assurances to government, the wider public and the international community that research in the UK continues to be underpinned by the highest standards of rigour and integrity. Its commitments include:
- provide better coordination of existing approaches to research integrity
- enable more effective communication of efforts to ensure that the highest standards of rigour and integrity continue to underpin all our research
- encourage greater transparency and accountability at both institutional and sector levels
- stimulate reflection on current practices to identify where improvements can be made.
We work with our Fellowship to ensure we support research of the highest quality at institutions that comply with this Concordat.
The Concordat for engaging the public with research
This Concordat aims to create a greater focus on and help embed public engagement with research across all disciplines in the higher education and research sectors. The four key principles are:
- UK research organisations have a strategic commitment to public engagement
- researchers are recognised and valued for their involvement with public engagement activities
- researchers are enabled to participate in public engagement activities through appropriate training, support and opportunities
- signatories and supporters will undertake regular reviews of their and the wider research sector’s progress in fostering public engagement across the UK.
The Academy runs a programme of public events which provide opportunities for our Fellows and grant awardees to share their research with public audiences. Please contact our Head of Engagement, Holly Rogers (holly.rogers@acmedsci.ac.uk), for information on how to participate in this programme.
Open access policy
The Academy’s mission is to create an open and progressive research sector to improve the health of people everywhere. We believe unrestricted online access to scientific publications for all – open access (OA) – supports this ambition.
Awardees are required to:
- Ensure that peer-reviewed, original research publications are available immediately upon publication, if possible, or otherwise within six months of the publication date on Europe PMC, utilising either a gold or green route to OA.
- Many academic journals will make a published article OA if an article processing charge (APC) is paid. While the Academy will not fund article processing charge fees separately from our research award, applicants may cost the article processing charge fees in their grant applications. Where a publication has been funded wholly by the Academy of Medical Sciences, underspend on an Academy grant may also be used to meet the cost. If Academy awards are to be used to pay for APCs, then we expect these publications to be OA at the point of publication and not within six months.
- Where possible, awardees should seek to retain copyright. Adopting a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license is recommended as it enables re-use of publications through text- and data-mining.
Please read the Academy’s OA policy for more information.
In line with our OA policy, we are supportive of our researchers publishing their research in OA journals and platforms. For example, on the recently launched Health Open Research, which publishes a broad range of peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed article types, including study protocols, case reports, clinical practice articles, policy and position statements, policy briefs, meeting and conference materials and full papers. For more information on journal OA routes, visit the Europe PMC website and the RoMEO Journals database.
Bullying and harassment policy
The Academy of Medical Sciences seeks to ensure that all staff and other individuals engaging in Academy activities can work in an environment that respects their rights and dignity, and that is free from unacceptable behaviour and conduct. The Academy does not tolerate any form of harassment or bullying.
The Academy encourages any individual witnessing or experiencing bullying, harassment or other forms of misconduct to report their experience, so that the support available can be used to resolve the situation as early as possible. The Academy will ensure that the complainant is not penalised whether directly or indirectly for bringing a complaint and the situation will be monitored to ensure that the harassment has stopped.
This policy applies to Academy grant holders and extends to all Academy activities whether they are during working hours or outside of normal working hours, on or off the premises, UK or international, or delivered directly by the Academy or via third parties.
Please read the Academy’s bullying and harrassment policy for more information.
Safeguarding
The Academy is committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment where everyone is respected and valued. This policy is part of a collection of policies that the Academy has to prevent harm, harassment, bullying or abuse and to manage it appropriately when it occurs.
It outlines the processes that the Academy uses to safeguard children, at-risk adults and young people in our work and the work of organisations we fund. It details how we will respond if a safeguarding issue arises, including reporting it to agencies or authorities where appropriate.
Please read the Academy’s safeguarding policy for more information.
Grants privacy policy
The Academy has a specific policy for the use of personal information for its grant awardees. The policy governs how and when the personal information collected during and after the application process may be used.
Please read the Academy’s grants privacy policy for more information.
Award terms and conditions
The Academy has a generic set of award terms and conditions, together with the relevant award letter, award acceptance form and grants policies and Concordats. These set out the terms and conditions on which an award is made by the Academy to the administering organisation.
In some instances, an award scheme will require specialist terms and conditions to apply and information regarding these are found on the individual scheme’s webpage.