Research Misconduct

Background
PSU Policies
PowerPoint Presentations
Case Studies
Online Learning Tools
Articles

The cornerstone of research and scholarship is trust. The public and other professionals must be able to trust that research being reported is honest, accurate, and as free from bias as possible. Each researcher or scholar has the responsibility to foster this relationship of trust by conducting ethical, quality research.

The issue of research misconduct has been written about extensively, and policies and definitions exist to clearly define behaviors that constitute misconduct. It is important to realize, however, that poor (and possibly unethical) research practices are not confined to our current definition of misconduct. The phrase "responsible conduct of research" is appropriate to describe research and scholarship that is conducted ethically and with integrity, and that avoids not only misconduct but questionable practices that fall short of responsible behavior.

The list of questionable research practices is long and ever-expanding, and can include things like poor data management, failing to share data, questionable data selection methods, fiscal mismanagement, or inadequate supervision of graduate students or postdocs. What can happen when a researcher acts questionably? Typically, when others discover the questionable unethical act, the researcher's reputation becomes damaged and the credibility of current and future research may be questioned. It could lead to greater scrutiny and oversight in the future. It may also limit the acceptance of publications in certain journals, depending on the nature of the unethical act.

Acts of research misconduct can result in much more severe penalties that can be truly damaging to a researcher's career. The US federal government (45 CFR 689) has defined research misconduct as

• Fabrication: making up data or results and recording or reporting them
• Falsification: manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record
• Plagiarism: the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit.

When federal funding is involved in cases involving research misconduct, the funding agency may impose sanctions on the researcher. The most common sanctions are debarment from receipt of future federal funding for a period of time, usually 3 to five years but possibly for life, and supervision and certification of future research funded by the agency. Depending on the nature of research being conducted, the agency and the academic institution have the ability to halt the research, particularly if the research might have safety implications for the research participants or the general public. Acts of research misconduct also tend to reach the media and threaten public trust in research.

Resources