Research Ethics & Publication Policy
Liberty Research Institute ("LRI", "we", "us") is a non-partisan research institute. This policy sets out the standards our research and publications are held to. It applies to working papers, policy briefs, and any other output published under the LRI name, whether produced by staff, fellows, or external collaborators.
1. Independence and funding disclosure
LRI does not accept funding conditioned on a predetermined research outcome. No funder, donor, or partner is granted editorial control over findings, conclusions, or recommendations. Where a specific piece of research receives funding, sponsorship, or in-kind support from an external party, that support is disclosed in the publication itself, along with any role the funder played in the research design.
2. Authorship
Authorship is limited to individuals who made a substantive contribution to the research design, analysis, or writing, and who reviewed and approved the final text. Contributors who assisted in a lesser capacity are credited in an acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors. Any use of AI tools in drafting or research assistance is disclosed in the publication.
3. Conflicts of interest
Authors and reviewers disclose any financial, professional, or personal interest that could reasonably be seen to influence a publication's findings or recommendations — including consultancy relationships, board memberships, and prior funding relationships with organisations discussed in the research. Disclosed conflicts are stated in the publication; where a conflict is judged too significant to manage through disclosure alone, the individual is recused from that publication.
4. Data integrity and evidentiary standards
Quantitative claims drawn from secondary sources are checked against their underlying source where possible. Claims that cannot be verified against a primary source at the time of publication are explicitly flagged as such, rather than presented as settled fact. Associations observed in real-world data are described as associations, not as proven causal effects, unless the underlying study design supports a causal claim.
5. Peer and editorial review
Research intended for external publication or citation in funding proposals is reviewed internally before release. Where practical, LRI seeks an independent methodological review from a researcher outside the Institute before external or journal submission.
6. Corrections and retractions
If a factual error, data error, or methodological flaw is identified in a published work, LRI will assess it and, where warranted, issue a public correction stating what changed and why, or retract the publication if the error undermines its core findings. Corrections are appended to the original publication rather than made silently.
7. Research misconduct
Fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism are treated as serious violations of this policy. A concern about research conduct in an LRI publication can be raised using the contact details below and will be reviewed by the Institute's leadership; upon appointment, oversight of misconduct matters will transfer to the Board of Trustees described in our governance framework.
8. Contact
Questions about this policy, or concerns about a specific publication: info@libertyresearch.com.ng.