ENSURING INTEGRITY OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

The integrity of research in science is critical for maintaining the public support for research and ensuring continued progress, including the development of effective clinical treatments and appropriate public health policy. Institutions and investigators may foster integrity in scientific research by developing educational programs focusing on the responsible conduct of research and by adopting appropriate practices related to the supervision of trainees and research personnel, data management, assignment of authorship, and procedures for approving applications for awards and publications.

Institutions also have the primary responsibility for responding to allegations of scientific misconduct, which is defined as "fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research" (42 CFR Part 50, Subpart A). To implement this responsibility, institutions are required to establish an administrative process to handle such allegations in an expeditious, objective, thorough, and competent manner and to report investigations of such allegations to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI). In addition, institutions are required to undertake diligent efforts to protect the positions and reputations of those persons who, in good faith, make allegations and to impose appropriate sanctions on individuals when the allegation of misconduct is substantiated. The Department of Health and Human Services also may take administrative actions in such cases.

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