Research with integrity - time to recognise postdocs - Cancer Research UK

There is a group of researchers who are unsung heroes when it comes to research integrity… Dr Andrew Porter tells us why and gives a well-deserved shout out to our hard-working postdocs

This entry is part 14 of 14 in the series Research Integrity

When we talk about research integrity, it’s easy to think about documents like the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, structures such as ethics committees and national bodies like UKCORI and UKRIO. While these are all important, we also need to think about the researchers on the ground.

If we zoom in on a typical cancer research lab in the UK, we’ll probably see a Principal Investigator, a couple of PhD students, perhaps a laboratory technician, and some postdocs. They all have important roles to play in supporting research integrity, but this Postdoc Appreciation Week I’d like to highlight the importance of the postdoctoral researcher.

At some point in the last 70 years or so, a new step in the research career ladder emerged. Rather than moving straight from PhD to an independent research position, some researchers worked for a short time in the lab of another principal investigator.

If you’ve started your research career in the last 30 years, you’ll likely have taken it for granted that we have postdocs. The origins of the term ‘postdoc’ are complex (for definitions of the term see this Prosper blog post, with more detailed history and background here). In brief, at some point in the last 70 years or so, a new step in the research career ladder emerged. Rather than moving straight from PhD to an independent research position (as was common at one time, believe it or not), some researchers worked for a short time in the lab of another principal investigator, to develop skills or extend the scope of their research before applying for their own funding.

Fast forward a few decades, and this post-doctoral position became codified as the typical step after PhD for those pursuing a research career, and gradually lengthened (~50% respondents to Nature’s 2023 global survey have been postdocs for three or more years) with some researchers undertaking several postdocs in different labs, before moving to independent positions or successfully taking their skills to roles outside academia.

Integral to integrity

Going back to our typical cancer research lab, the postdocs likely have many roles, formal and informal. They are driving their own research projects under the direction of the PI and exploring new ideas while supporting the day-to-day running of the lab – keeping the shelves stocked, training new starters and PhD students, contributing to funding proposals and likely participating in university or Institute committees, outreach and engagement activities. Those on longer-term contracts provide stability, propagating lab culture as colleagues come and go.

I would argue that, in all these areas and more, postdocs are providing much of the fabric that underpins research integrity in practice. And, also, that by recognising, acknowledging, supporting – indeed appreciating – these research integrity roles of postdocs, we can improve research practice and culture more widely.

They are involved in training and induction, especially for new starters and students. Showing care and respect, helping colleagues work with rigour, promoting honest and open conversations - all these are part of building a healthy research culture that supports integrity.

Postdocs are often at the forefront of bringing in new research practices and ideas which spill over into the wider lab, keeping the research up-to-date. It is often early career researchers who first embrace ideas around open research practices, and encourage those around them in making their data FAIR and sharing open and transparent methodology. They can be excellent role models for students who are learning what good research practice looks like.

Postdocs, being present in the lab and the office, are often a first port of call for questions big and small. They are involved in training and induction, especially for new starters and students. Showing care and respect, helping colleagues work with rigour, promoting honest and open conversations – all these are part of building a healthy research culture that supports integrity.

Can ordering reagents be a part of research integrity? It may not seem a particularly exciting task, but choosing high quality reagents and keeping track of details so that they can be easily shared at publication helps support reproducibility. For instance, undertaking due diligence on antibodies to ensure they are specific to their target, have appropriate controls and are clearly referenced supports all those who use those reagents and increases experimental validity.

Support for postdoc integrity

Given this range of activities, how can we support postdoctoral researchers in these important (sometimes underacknowledged) research integrity roles?

Supporting the training and continuing professional development of postdocs is integral to researchers reaching their full potential. Of the areas postdocs reported lowest satisfaction in the 2023 postdoc survey, carer development opportunities was second only to job security. Giving space and time to develop and explore career paths, using tools such as the CRUK Competency Framework, is likely to improve researchers’ engagement in their current roles.

Cancer Research UK, as signatory to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, expects all CRUK-funded organisations to provide continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities, and give researchers 10 days a year (pro-rata if part time) to undertake career-based skills training, in addition to project-specific skills training.

Not only do these skills benefit the individual, but having well-trained postdoctoral researchers will improve the wider research environment and culture of the lab, institute or organisation where they work. Well-trained researchers can share best practice with their colleagues, helping avoid honest errors and mistakes that can emerge from passing on questionable research practices, (for example using inappropriate statistical tests, not adequately controlling experiments, or not accounting for the limitations of a particular methodology).

When PhD students come with tricky problems, researchers with leadership training (such as the free Meyler Campbell leadership coaching available to CRUK researchers) will be better placed to assess how to address them.

For postdocs wanting to stay in research, offering them ways to become more professionally visible and independent can help their transition. PIs can include postdocs as co-investigators on grants (dependent on the grant process and institutional rules) to receive credit for their contributions to proposals. CRUK researchers can attend funding panels to better understand how they work and improve their chances of securing funding, or apply for the exciting new Bridge to Academic Leadership programme starting in 2026.

Finally, encouraging postdoc networking can help postdocs build their professional networks, receive encouragement and share experiences with their peers. Most institutions will have some sort of postdoc network, so managers can actively encourage their postdocs to seek these out.

Postdocs are uniquely positioned to engage with day-to-day aspects of research in a way that positively boosts research integrity. They are open to new ideas and emerging best practice, as well as having enough experience and permanence to pass these on to others. However, they are also vulnerable to overwork and overreach, and each person needs careful management based on their own career aims and goals. Investing in postdoc training and CPD not only benefits the individual, it overspills to those around them, spreading knowledge and good practice. And that’s definitely worth some appreciation.