Towards an African Charter for Research Integrity: An Actionable Framework Grounded in Ubuntu, Decolonisation, and Responsible Knowledge Production

Research integrity has emerged as a global concern as higher education institutions, research councils, and funding agencies seek to ensure the credibility, trustworthiness, and societal relevance of scholarly knowledge production. Existing research integrity frameworks have largely been developed within Western epistemological traditions and are frequently presented as universal standards applicable across diverse contexts. This conceptual paper argues for the development of an African-centred research integrity framework that reflects the continent’s distinctive philosophical traditions, social values, and indigenous ways of knowing. Drawing on the complementary theoretical lenses of Ubuntu, decoloniality, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), the paper critiques the limitations of dominant paradigms of integrity and proposes a contextually grounded alternative. Ubuntu foregrounds relational accountability, communal responsibility, and human interconnectedness; decoloniality challenges the continued dominance of Eurocentric knowledge structures; and IKS affirm the legitimacy and protection of local knowledge traditions in research processes. Building on these perspectives, the paper proposes an African Charter for Research Integrity that integrates universal ethical principles with African epistemological and cultural values. The Charter advocates for relational ethics, community engagement, epistemic justice, knowledge co-creation, and the recognition of indigenous knowledge holders as legitimate research partners. By repositioning research integrity within African intellectual traditions, the proposed framework seeks to promote ethical, socially responsive, and culturally relevant research practices. The significance of this conceptual contribution lies in its potential to broaden global understandings of research integrity, advance epistemic diversity, and provide an actionable foundation for policy development, institutional practice, and future research across African higher education.