Research Culture

Research Culture is described by The Royal Society (2018) as encompassing:

‘The behaviours, values, expectations, attitudes and norms of our research communities. It influences researchers’ career paths and determines the way that research is conducted and communicated.' 

Research culture is therefore about the way we conduct, enable and celebrate our research. It is also reflective of the wider environment we work in and the systems, policies and processes that underpin this.

Figure 1: An overview of Research Culture and the relationship to other aspects of our environment

Across the sector a positive, inclusive and vibrant research culture is recognised as a key factor in delivering high quality research and an increasingly important part of research assessment. The focus on research culture reflects a growing recognition that historical inequalities have created poor research practices. In the past how the sector has assessed research can focus on a narrow range of metrics. This has reduced incentives for ambitious research, and undermined interdisciplinarity and openness. Whilst the contributions of technicians and other professional services staff has been undervalued, and different types of research and research outputs have often had limited recognition.