Standards

Research governance framework 

The Gambling Commission's Research Governance Framework.

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Published
30 April 2026

Last updated
30 April 2026 - Changes

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Contents

• Research governance framework 

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• Introduction
• • Research at the Gambling Commission
  • The Research Governance Framework
  • Developing and updating the research governance framework
• Ethical gambling research
• • Introduction to ethical gambling research
  • Core research principles and guidelines for ethical gambling research
  • Research involving AI
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Research misconduct
• Ethical approval for gambling research with human participants
• • Which projects require ethical approval
  • General considerations for ethical approval in gambling research
  • The ethical approval process
• The peer review process
• Roles and responsibilities
• Other external research involvement
• Research data governance
• • General principles of research data governance and research data safeguarding
  • What documents are required?
  • Data sharing
• Dissemination of research
• Monitoring, review and data corrections
• Appendices
• • Appendix 1: Ethics Checklist for projects requiring full Ethical Approval
  • Appendix 2: Data management plan checklist checklist
  • Appendix 3: Peer review checklist
  • Appendix 4: Research misconduct

5 - Roles and responsibilities

Research governance manager

The Research Governance Manager at the Gambling Commission is responsible for managing the research governance framework and providing advice on its implementation for relevant research carried out or commissioned by the Gambling Commission. The Research Governance Manager will arrange and coordinate peer review and ethical approval if required and report any issues to the senior management team.

The Director of Research and Statistics

The Director of Research and Statistics will be ultimately accountable for all research undertaken by the research and statistics team and will have final sign off on all research publications.

Senior Management Team

The Senior Management Team is accountable for research activity within their own teams and are responsible for only approving research activities that are fit for purpose and meet acceptable research standards. This includes checking that any external research providers (or other external research partners) either comply with the principles and standards of this framework or have their own research guidelines that adhere to acceptable research standards and principles.

Research Manager

Each research project has an allocated Research Manager with appropriate methodological and/or topic expertise. The Research Manager is responsible for:

• managing the research project to time and budget
• liaising effectively with the external partner or research provider (if applicable) and manage internal and external stakeholders and their expectations
• quality assurance of key outputs and the evidence base: liaising with the Research Governance Manager to ensure that the research meets the research principles and guidelines as laid out by this framework
• working with the Corporate Affairs team to manage the communication and dissemination of the team’s outputs and maximise their impact, in accordance with the open research principles laid out in this framework
• collating all documents relating to research integrity this research governance framework (such as the completed ethic checklist and other ethical approval documents, copies of any Data Management Plans and/or Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) if required, peer review documentation and so on) in a suitably named folder for each research project that falls under the remit of this framework.

Research project team

The research project team are responsible for ensuring that any research activities that they undertake meet the requirements of this framework. The research team should consider any risks involved in the project and ensure that those risks are managed. The research team will help draw up the project plan and complete the ethics checklist if required. They will liaise with the external partner or research team if applicable.

Expert groups

Our expert groups may be involved in the various stages of the research process. This may include advising on and providing feedback for the research design or providing feedback or peer review for the research outputs. Peer review can only be carried out by someone who has not been involved in the research design or any other aspects of the research.

Staff projects

We have no responsibility for research projects undertaken by our staff that are not related to their role at the Gambling Commission, for example research for Masters or PhD projects or research undertaken as part of an honorary position that they may hold. The governance arrangements for these activities need to meet the requirements of the organisation that is supervising the research. For all projects that are undertaken within a (non-Gambling Commission) academic portfolio, our staff must notify their line managers before publication and, if relevant, a disclaimer should be added that states that ‘the findings and conclusions in the documents are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Commission.’

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Other external research involvement - Research Governance Framework

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Last updated: 30 April 2026

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