Assembling research integrity: negotiating a policy object in scientific governance

In recent years research integrity has received increased attention from scientific governance. Many countries have opened up funding streams for research on (mis)conduct, and a number of international policy efforts have emerged around the topic. In this paper we frame research integrity as a ‘policy object’ and reflect upon how this object is being assembled within one particular context, that of Denmark. Using material from an interview study with actors within Danish research, we outline how policy for research integrity is being imagined and practiced, first describing the diverse actants that are enrolled into the project of ‘research integrity’, and second discussing how responsibility is variously attributed to these. Importantly, we find that despite extensive efforts to define and settle research integrity as policy object, it continues to be assembled in diverse ways in different sites and by different actors. Even in a single national context, ‘research integrity’ remains multiple.