Academic integrity is at the core of good research practice, helping to create and sustain the public’s trust in scientific research. While the challenges in academic integrity, particularly scientific misconduct are global, there are factors which indicate idiosyncratic nature in frequency and magnitudes of research misconduct across geographical space. The need to maintain high standards of research ethics and integrity has led to the formation of dedicated units or offices known as “Office of Research Integrity (ORI)” or “Research Integrity Office (RIO)” in the global north. However, they are scarce in developing countries such as India. Moreover, the specific challenges faced (e.g., academic integrity policy implementation) by Indian academics are poorly documented. Addressing this issue, two leading life science research institutes in India, the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (iBRIC-inStem) and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR) which share a common campus and research facilities with cross-campus collaborations between faculties and students, established India’s first dedicated RIO in 2022. The office is primarily working with three aims: to formulate policies and protocols for using tools for academic integrity to help uphold the academic integrity at each institute, to create a process for publication data archiving to improve the transparency and reproducibility of research conducted and finally, to conduct capacity building and training programmes for all stakeholders. Here, we aim to discuss the process of setting up a multi-institute research ethics and integrity office as a best practice example of cooperation, and optimum utilisation of limited resources, as well as various measures to improve stakeholder engagement and network.