Institutional Affiliation in Publications Policy

Version: 2025, v2

Purpose

This policy is designed to ensure the correct and consistent use of institutional affiliations in all research outputs and other publications. Standardising the format of institutional affiliation information facilitates several important outcomes for both individual authors and for the University:

i. More accurate indexing within bibliographic databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions and OpenAlex, improving the accuracy of these sources’ data on the research publications associated with an individual researcher, research groups, and research institutions.

ii. Enhanced visibility of University research and researchers via these sources, potentially increasing citation rates.

iii. More accurate recording and reporting of bibliometric measures associated with research outputs, contributing to appropriate and ethical research assessment, both internal and external, for a variety of purposes.

iv. Ensures eligibility of relevant outputs for inclusion in the University’s REF submission.

v. Ensures that the University receives full recognition for the work of its staff and students in the international league tables and in other research evaluations.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

i. All academic, research, technical and professional services staff and students whose research outputs and publications derive from their employment by or studies at the University.

ii. Honorary and emeritus members of staff and visiting scholars where the research output or publication arises from the use of University resources and facilities.

iii. All University of Leicester staff associated with NHS Trusts.

iv. Any research outputs or publications from research grants awarded to or provided by the University, or otherwise from the use of University resources and facilities.

v. All research outputs and publications where a University of Leicester researcher is an author, even if not the principal or corresponding author.

Where an individual holds a joint affiliation with another institution or organisation, both/all affiliations may be cited, but the University affiliation must be included. Where affiliations outside the University of Leicester are being listed in publications, it is the Author’s responsibility to ensure that any appropriate or necessary Declarations of Interest have been recorded at the University.

3. Policy Text

3.1: The institutional affiliation University of Leicester and the city name Leicester must be cited when recording affiliation in research articles, conference papers and all other publications. [Non-exhaustive examples of the format for institutional affiliations can be found online here.] 

3.2: University of Leicester must always be in full and should be the primary affiliation.

3.3: No abbreviations or acronyms should be used for either the University affiliation or the name of the School, Department, Research Institute, Research Centre or Research Group unless accompanied by the full name.

3.4: Where permitted by the house style of the publication venue, University of Leicester should appear as the first element in the affiliation. Other elements such as Department/School/Institute or Research Group may be listed as second or third elements, as appropriate.

3.5: If the publication’s house style does not permit the format outlined in 3.4 above, University of Leicester should appear as prominently and as close to the start of the affiliation entry as possible.

3.6: The full University postal address, with postcode, should be included whenever possible:

University of Leicester

University Road

Leicester

LE1 7RH

United Kingdom

Other University-related postal addresses can be used, providing 3.1 is satisfied: University of Leicester and Leicester must be included.

3.7: It can be helpful for authors to record their personal names as fully and consistently as possible across publications, since this facilitates their accurate identification. However, journal house styles may not support this.

3.8: It is strongly recommended that all authors register and use their ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) with the University and for all publications. ORCIDs enable author disambiguation and help more accurate author, publication and citation tracking. Authors should register for an individual ORCID and:

i. include it wherever possible when submitting publications, to ensure that the author is credited for their work and that the institutional affiliation is accurate;

ii. notify HR of their ORCID so that it can be included in their staff record.

4. Responsibilities

4.1: It is the responsibility of individual authors to ensure that their affiliation to the University of Leicester is correctly recorded. This includes checking the proofs of any publications received.

4.2: Where a University of Leicester author is not the principal or corresponding author for a publication co-authored with researchers at another institution, the University of Leicester author should ensure that the corresponding author is informed of the correct format to be used for the University of Leicester author’s affiliation according to this policy.

4.3: The University (via the Library and Learning Services Research Services Team) will support academic and research staff in the implementation of this policy. They will give practical guidance in particular instances and can provide worked examples of affiliations in addition to those included in the guidance. They will also support staff to set up and manage their ORCID and to integrate it with internal and external researcher profiles.

4.4: It is the responsibility of the individual author to be aware of any funder obligations with regard to affiliation or acknowledgement in publications beyond this policy. Information on this should be sought from the relevant funder.

5. Dissemination of Policy

This policy will be disseminated via the Research & Enterprise Division Sharepoint site, the Open Research Skills Sharepoint site, and via College Research and Enterprise Committees.

6. Review

This policy will be reviewed every three years.

A PDF version of the policy is available for download (PDF, 194 KB).

Date of issue: 11/06/2025.

Review date: 30/06/2028.