Research concerns

How to raise concerns about research at the University of Melbourne.

The Office of Research Ethics and Integrity (OREI) receives and manages concerns regarding:

  • Research conduct and integrity
  • Participant experiences in research
  • Animal welfare
  • Independent external reviews of the University’s animal care and use program
  • Decisions made by ethics, biorisk, or clinical trials governance committees at the University.

Anyone can notify us about their concerns, including if it was based on your own observations or experiences. All concerns raised are taken seriously.

Research integrity concerns

You are encouraged to notify us about a potential breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research or the University's Responsible Conduct of Research Policy (MPF1318) that involves University research personnel.

We may identify a breach (or multiple breaches) of the Code if the research practices and conduct have failed to meet the principles and responsibilities described in the Code.

To notify us of your concern, you can: 

You can notify us of a concern anonymously and confidentially. All notifications are managed to protect the integrity of process and privacy of persons involved.

For more information about the way we manage and investigate potential breaches of the Code, please see the Responsible Conduct of Research Breaches Procedure (MPF1391).

Internal members of the University are encouraged to first seek advice from a Research Integrity Advisor or from the Research Integrity Investigations team.

Other research concerns

If you have a concern about your experience participating in a research project, animal welfare, decisions made by our ethics, biorisk or clinical trial governance committees, or the way an independent external review of our animal care and use program was conducted, you should let us know.

To notify us of your concern, you can: 

Additional information

The way OREI collects and processes personal information is detailed in our Privacy Notice.

More information about the University’s policy framework relating to research and research training is available on our Policy Hub.

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