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GRF · Research Nexus

Decision-rights context

Research dialogue informs decisions; it does not make them. This page locates the people and bodies that hold decision rights over research and its use: public authorities that fund research and set policy, institutions that govern research quality, the communities whose knowledge and interests are at stake, and the researchers themselves. It also sets out the boundary of Research Nexus, which convenes and records but never decides for anyone. It complements discipline and institutional issues.

STEM methods
3
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
8
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
7
Platforms in shared fields across the network
Report series
2
Reports series it contributes to
01Who decides

Decision rights over research and its use.

Public authorities

Funding and policy

Ministries, research councils and legislatures decide research funding, priorities and how evidence is used in public decisions.

Research institutions

Quality and integrity

Universities, institutes, journals and integrity offices govern review, misconduct investigations and correction.

Communities

Consent and knowledge

Communities, including Indigenous rights holders, decide on use of their knowledge and data and on research that affects them.

02Monitor

Field overview.

The screen a team would use to follow this subject: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.

Field overview: the screen's structure, terms and states for Research.Example names and illustrative values; a design, not a record or a live system.
03Decisions in research

Who decides what gets researched and published.

DecisionHolderCheck
Funding prioritiesResearch councils and fundersPeer review, public calls
Ethics approvalResearch ethics committeesInstitutional and national rules
PublicationEditors and authorsPeer review, COPE norms
Use in policyThe deciding authorityIts own procedure

Research Nexus holds none of these decisions; dialogues can make them visible to each other.

04Researchers

Researchers hold rights and duties too.

Researchers decide on their questions and methods within ethics approvals and funding terms, and they are responsible for honest reporting, disclosure of conflicts and correction of errors. Academic freedom protects their ability to publish findings that are inconvenient to funders or authorities.

05Role of the platform

What Research Nexus adds, and where it stops.

  1. 01

    Convening

    Brings researchers and institutions together on agreed questions, with balanced participation.

  2. 02

    Comparing

    Sets out how different institutions and countries approach the same evidence.

  3. 03

    Recording

    Keeps a transparent record of what was discussed and agreed.

  4. 04

    Boundary

    GRF convenes and governs programmes. It does not regulate, finance, procure or certify, and hosting or sponsorship confers no authority over findings. Research Nexus does not fund, commission, review or certify research, and its records carry no binding force.

06Science and governance

How the three institutions divide the work.

The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) conducts and publishes science through Reports. GRF convenes and governs dialogue. Global Risks Alliance (GRA) builds shared industry understanding of what evidence means for finance, for example through Financial Regulations Nexus. None of them takes decisions that belong to authorities or institutions.

07Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

08Questions

Questions and answers.

Can a dialogue record be used as authority advice?
No. It is a record of discussion. Any authority that uses it does so under its own responsibility and rules.
Who decides the topics of dialogues?
Topics are proposed by participants and institutions and agreed through GRF programme governance, with the reasons recorded.
Does GRF make decisions on research policy?
GRF convenes and governs programmes. It does not regulate, finance, procure or certify, and hosting or sponsorship confers no authority over findings.
What if participants disagree with an authority's use of evidence?
Participants may say so in dialogue, and the record will show it. Research Nexus does not campaign or take positions on behalf of participants.
ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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