Research Misconduct

Policy ____ [Number from Table of Contents]

Introduction

Integrity in research is the basis for the academic search for knowledge. Persons involved in academic research must guard the truth and protect the public trust that research in an academic environment has long held. Activities which interfere with an honest search for the truth cannot be tolerated in a university setting. All effort must be made to maintain an open and honest search for truth through continual commitment by faculty, staff, and students to scrupulous honesty and integrity in research.

It is clear that scientific and scholarly misconduct cannot be prevented completely by a university policy or federal law; it can only be avoided through each individual's firm commitment to academic ideals and honesty. The importance of such honesty in one's research work should be impressed upon all members of the university community by those responsible for conducting or directing research and scholarship projects. Only in this way can the university community effectively guard the truth and maintain traditions of intellectual honesty.

Definitions

Definition of Research Misconduct

Since the search for knowledge is impeded and subverted by the misrepresentation of facts, openness and honesty are commonly accepted norms within the scientific and scholarly community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research. "Research misconduct" means plagiarism, falsification, fabrication of data, or other forms of deliberate misrepresentation. It does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data.