1. OSVPR Home
  2. About Research at Penn State
  3. Resources for Reporting Concerns

Resources for Reporting Concerns

The Office of the Vice President of Research

OVPR oversees the following research support units, which offer reporting mechanisms if you have concerns about wrongdoing or misconduct. For research-related concerns, you may contact the Office for Research Protections at 814-865-1775 or ORProtections@psu.edu.

  • Reporting concerns about research misconduct

Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Please see the Office of Research Protections research misconduct page. 

  • Reporting concerns about human subject research

Questions, concerns or complaints related to research involving human subjects conducted at or under the auspices of The Pennsylvania State University may be directed to Sara Horn (sjh246@psu.edu), Assistant Director of the Office for Research Protections. If a concern is emergent in nature or is such that a participant may potentially be placed at risk, please call the IRB directly at (814) 865-1775. Each concern or question is taken seriously and handled confidentially. Concerns may also be directed to the Penn State Ethics and Compliance Hotline at 1-800-560-1637. Federal law prohibits discrimination against persons who bring forth legitimate concerns.

  • Reporting concerns about animals used in research

Please see the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee concerns page. 

  • Reporting concerns about conflicts of interest

If you suspect a conflict of interest, please call the Penn State hotline at 1-800-560-1637. Please also see the Office of Research Protections Conflict of Interest office, or click here for information on public access.

Please note the College of Medicine/Penn State Hershey has separate Conflict of Interest information. 

 

Penn State Hotline

At Penn State, we have made a commitment to the highest standard of ethical behavior among all in our community. As a part of that commitment, we believe that our employees and students should be able to raise questions or voice concerns about workplace and University issues. This includes financial matters such as fraud, theft of University assets, or conflicts of interest; and other misconduct or violations of University policy, including research compliance matters, discrimination, athletics-compliance issues, or sexual misconduct. Any concern about misconduct, conflicts of interest, harassment, or other ethics violations may be reported to Penn State's hotline anonymously. If you are unsure of how or whether to report an issue, you can make an anonymous report without fear of retaliation. 

University employees and students can report issues and/or ask questions via phone at 1-800-560-1637 or online.

Please visit the University Ethics Hotline site for more information. 

 

  • Crime or emergency situation

Contact the campus police (814-863-1111) or security office

In an emergency, dial 911.

  • Child abuse, including child sexual abuse

Contact the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Services "ChildLine" at  800-932-0313 or https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis

If the child is in immediate danger, dial 911 first.

You must also email AD72@psu.edu communicating that a report has been made. For more information on AD72, seehttps://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD72.html 

 

Additional University resources and support

The following resources are available for faculty, staff, students, and others: http://universityethics.psu.edu/resources-reporting-wrongdoing