11 UK research entry points · 8 research integrity priorities · 6 DEFONEOS MCPs · UKRI / UKRIO / Russell Group backbone
UK research and development represents £22bn annual public investment, with 106 universities, 15 Catapult centres, the Alan Turing Institute, and 6 Research Councils under UKRI. Research integrity is governed by the Concordat to Support Research Integrity (2019, revised 2024), the UK Committee on Research Integrity (UK CORI), the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), the 2023 UKRI Open Access Policy, the Russell Group's position on AI in research, the Royal Society's 2025 AI & Science report, the National AI Strategy, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2028 integrity requirements, and the 2024 DSIT AI Safety Institute evaluation framework. The sector faces critical challenges: AI-generated paper mills, fabrication and falsification detection, citation gaming, predatory publishing, dual-use AI research governance, reproducibility crisis, peer review integrity, and the 2025 DSIT Research Security package addressing foreign interference. DEFONEOS delivers the UK's first open-source Sovereign Public Services OS purpose-built for research integrity — BFT-governed research evidence chains, sovereign data provenance, AI-augmented misconduct detection, and reproducibility verification.
All entries are BFT-signed (Ed25519 / RFC 8032 / 2026-Q3 rotation) and curl-verifiable. Per-entry contacts sourced from UKRI + UKRIO + Russell Group (2026-Q1).
| # | Entry point | Location | Function | DEFONEOS fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) | Swindon | National funder · 6 Research Councils · £8bn+ annual · integrity policy | DEFONEOS MCPs: sovereign-keystore · data-gov-uk-mcp — funding provenance + integrity data |
| E2 | UK Committee on Research Integrity (UK CORI) | London | National integrity body · Concordat implementation · evidence base | DEFONEOS MCPs: bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore — integrity BFT + evidence chain |
| E3 | UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) | London | Independent integrity guidance · good practice · case support | DEFONEOS MCPs: bft-council-probe · data-gov-uk-mcp — integrity verification + data |
| E4 | Alan Turing Institute | London | National AI institute · AI ethics · data science · research security | DEFONEOS MCPs: bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore — AI research integrity + provenance |
| E5 | Russell Group (24 research-intensive universities) | Nationwide | Research policy · integrity codes · REF submission · AI policy | DEFONEOS MCPs: data-gov-uk-mcp · bft-council-probe — university research data + BFT |
| E6 | Royal Society | London | National academy · scientific integrity · AI & Science report · Fellowship | DEFONEOS MCPs: sovereign-keystore · bft-council-probe — scientific evidence chain + BFT |
| E7 | Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) | London | Engineering academy · research security · dual-use governance | DEFONEOS MCPs: sovereign-keystore · bft-council-probe — engineering evidence + BFT |
| E8 | Office for Students (OfS) | London | HE regulation · research degree integrity · REF assurance | DEFONEOS MCPs: data-gov-uk-mcp · bft-council-probe — HE research data + compliance |
| E9 | UK AI Safety Institute (UK AISI) | London | Frontier AI evaluation · model safety · research security | DEFONEOS MCPs: bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore — AI safety evaluation + BFT |
| E10 | Catapult Network (15 centres) | Nationwide | Innovation translation · applied research · commercialisation | DEFONEOS MCPs: data-gov-uk-mcp · companies-house-mcp — innovation data + enterprise |
| E11 | DSIT — Research Security Division | London | Research security · foreign interference · trusted research | DEFONEOS MCPs: bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore — research security + provenance |
| # | Priority | Owning body | DEFONEOS MCP coverage | Alignment cross-walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | AI-generated misconduct detection & paper mill identification | UK CORI / UKRIO / Publishers | bft-council-probe · gdelt-news-mcp | AI text detection · image manipulation · citation integrity |
| P2 | Research data provenance & sovereign evidence chains | UKRI / Universities | sovereign-keystore · bft-council-probe | Data provenance · experiment chain · reproducibility evidence |
| P3 | Dual-use AI research governance & trusted research | DSIT / UK AISI / RAEng | bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore | Dual-use assessment · trusted research · security vetting |
| P4 | Reproducibility verification & open data compliance | UKRI / Royal Society | sovereign-keystore · data-gov-uk-mcp | Open data · FAIR principles · reproducibility metrics |
| P5 | REF 2028 integrity & evidence assurance | UKRI / OfS / Universities | bft-council-probe · sovereign-keystore | REF evidence · impact chains · audit trail |
| P6 | Foreign interference detection & research security | DSIT / Universities UK | bft-council-probe · gdelt-news-mcp | Interference monitoring · partnership vetting · risk assessment |
| P7 | Peer review integrity & citation gaming detection | Royal Society / Publishers | bft-council-probe · data-gov-uk-mcp | Citation analysis · reviewer integrity · gaming detection |
| P8 | Open access compliance & scholarly communication | UKRI / Jisc / Publishers | data-gov-uk-mcp · sovereign-keystore | OA compliance · repository data · publication chain |
| # | MCP server | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sovereign-keystore | Research Data & Evidence Provenance Chain | Ed25519-signed experiment data provenance · REF impact evidence chains · reproducibility records · funding trail · open access compliance evidence |
| 2 | bft-council-probe | Integrity & Misconduct Detection Governance | 33-agent BFT chain for misconduct investigation evidence · dual-use research assessment · foreign interference risk scoring · REF integrity audit |
| 3 | data-gov-uk-mcp | Research Open Data Infrastructure | UKRI Gateway data · REF submission data · university research output · Catapult innovation data · citation databases |
| 4 | ons-statistics-mcp | R&D Statistics & Metrics | R&D expenditure · BERD data · HERD data · researcher headcount · publication output · citation impact metrics |
| 5 | gdelt-news-mcp | Research Reputation & Risk Monitoring | OSINT for research misconduct scandals · paper mill exposure · citation gaming signals · foreign interference intelligence |
| 6 | companies-house-mcp | Spin-off & Partnership Vetting | University spin-off vetting · research partnership due diligence · commercialisation chain verification · conflict-of-interest checks |
The UK research integrity digital backbone spans the UKRI Funding Service, the REF submission portal, the Researchfish outcomes tracking system, the Jisc Research Data Management platform, the UKRIO good practice checklist system, the UK CORI evidence dashboard, the UK AISI model evaluation framework, the Universities UK research security toolkit, the Royal Society's Open Science platform, the Jisc Open Access repository network, the Catapult innovation metrics platform, the ORCID researcher identifier system, and the DSIT Research Security portal. The sector is rapidly adopting AI for misconduct detection, reproducibility verification, peer review automation, citation analysis, and research security monitoring. DEFONEOS integrates via BFT-governed integrity verification, sovereign data provenance, AI-augmented misconduct detection, and dual-use research governance. All evidence is curl-verifiable at the protocol layer.
| Step | Action | Owner | Time | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buyer identifies misconduct detection / provenance / dual-use / reproducibility requirement | Buyer | — | Requirement document |
| 2 | CSOAI sends DEFONEOS research integrity pack + 30-day pilot pricing (T1 £2,840 / T2 £9,150 / T3 £28,400) | CSOAI | 1 hour | This page (curl-verifiable) |
| 3 | Buyer reviews BFT integrity chain + provenance + misconduct detection alignment | Buyer | 2-4 hours | curl -s /health + research pack |
| 4 | Submit integrity framework / provenance plan / dual-use governance plan | Buyer | 1-2 hours | Procurement pack |
| 5 | CSOAI provisions research-sovereign VM + DEFONEOS substrate + integrity chain | CSOAI | <24 hours | AG-1: curl -s /health HTTP 200 |
⚠️ HARD RED-LINE: DEFONEOS handles OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE research data ONLY. No AI that suppresses legitimate research findings or manipulates research outcomes. No assistance with fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. No enablement of dual-use AI research that could cause harm without proper governance and oversight. No circumvention of research ethics approval or peer review. No exploitation of researcher data for surveillance or profiling. No use of AI to game citations, manipulate metrics, or undermine peer review integrity. AI supports misconduct detection, reproducibility verification, research security, provenance assurance, and dual-use governance — never research suppression, misconduct assistance, or dual-use enablement. All research evidence is BFT-governed with 23/33 quorum and independently verifiable. DEFONEOS strictly supports the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, the UKRI Open Access Policy, and the DSIT Research Security framework.
| Buyer type | Entry point | Procurement vehicle | Security requirement | Pilot tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UKRI (national funder) | E1 | UKRI framework · GCF · direct | OFFICIAL | T1/T2 |
| UK CORI / UKRIO | E2 / E3 | Regulatory framework · direct | OFFICIAL | T1/T2 |
| Alan Turing / UK AISI | E4 / E9 | Research framework · direct · innovation | OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE | T2/T3 |
| Russell Group universities | E5 | University framework · Jisc · direct | OFFICIAL | T1/T2 |
| Royal Society / RAEng | E6 / E7 | Academy framework · direct | OFFICIAL | T1/T2 |
| DSIT / Catapult Network | E10 / E11 | Government framework · Catapult · GCF | OFFICIAL | T1/T2 |