The United Kingdom needs stronger mechanisms for ensuring the responsible conduct of research, concluded a meeting of leading members of the country’s scientific establishment.

The meeting on 12 January, convened by the BMJ and the international Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to discuss the UK’s lack of a concerted approach to research misconduct (BMJ 2012;344:d8357, doi:10.1136/bmj.d8357; 2012;344:e377, doi:10.1136/bmj.e377), was attended by senior representatives from academia, government, funding agencies, and journals. All agreed that, on top of the duties of individual researchers, their employing institutions have prime responsibility to ensure that research conducted within their walls is free from misconduct …