What is RESEARCH misconduct and how
should it be handled?
Alison Lakin RN, LLB, LLM, PhD
Assistant Vice Chancellor for
Regulatory Compliance
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Definition of research misconduct
Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism and other forms of
misrepresentation of ideas, and other serious deviations
from accepted practices in proposing, carrying out,
reviewing, or reporting results from research.
Failure to comply with established standards regarding
author name on publications;
Retaliation of any kind against a person who, in good faith,
reported or provided information about suspected or alleged
misconduct in research.
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Fabrication is making up data or results and
recording or reporting them
• Diederik Stapel, a Dutch social psychologist, perpetrated an
audacious academic fraud by making up studies that told the
world what it wanted to hear about human nature. [ Read: New
York Times, By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, Published: April 26, 2013]
• When challenged with specifics — to explain why certain facts
and figures he reported in different studies appeared to be
identical — Stapel promised to be more careful in the future. As
Zeelenberg pressed him, Stapel grew increasingly agitated.
– Finally, Zeelenberg said: “I have to ask you if you’re faking
data.”
– “No, that’s ridiculous,” Stapel replied. “Of course not.”
• Be wary of perfect data
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Falsification is manipulating research materials,
equipment, or processes, or changing or
omitting data or results in the research record
ANIL POTTI, Joseph Nevins and
their colleagues at Duke
University in Durham, North
Carolina, garnered widespread
attention in 2006. They
reported in the New England
Journal of Medicine that they
could predict the course of a
patient's lung cancer using
expression arrays
Keith Baggerly and Kevin
Coombes, had begun to find
serious flaws in the work.
[The Economist Sept. 10, 2011]
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Plagiarism is the appropriation of other person’s
ideas, processes, results, or words without
giving appropriate credit
80% of the findings of research misconduct by
NSF over the last 10 years involve plagiarism?
•
•
•
Can you plagiarize grants?
Lecture notes?
What is self plagiarism?
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Plagiarism
The Scientist
June 1, 2013
Defending against plagiarism: Publishers need to be
proactive about detecting and deterring copied text
By Jonathon Bailey
• By March 8, 2013, NSF
had investigated nearly
100 cases of suspected
plagiarism;
• In the last 30 years 10x
increase in retractions
with plagiarism and
duplication accounting
for 25%
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Misconduct in research does not include
honest error or differences of opinion.
• A single misconduct investigation is estimated
to cost the institution $525,000 plus collateral
damage to reputation
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Survey conducted by NIH in 2005
[published in Nature, Vol. 445, Jan 18, 2007]
• 3, 247 researchers surveyed with the following
results:
– 1.4% admitted to plagiarism
– 0.3% admitted to falsification of data
– 15.5% had changed the design, methodology or results in
response to pressure from a funding source
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When does falsification, fabrication and/or
plagiarism = research misconduct?
A preponderance of the evidence establishes that:
1. The conduct meets the policy definition of research
misconduct;
2. The research misconduct is a significant departure
from accepted practices of the relevant research
community;
3. The respondent committed the relevant research
misconduct intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly
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UC Denver I AMC policies and
procedures for scientific misconduct
UC policy:
Misconduct in research, scholarship, and creative
activities
Effective July 1, 2011
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/research/Abou
tUs/regcomp/researchethics/Pages/ScientificMisconduct.aspx
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Responsible Institutional Officials
Research Integrity Officer – Dr. Alison Lakin
Chair of the Research Ethics Committee for
UC Denver I AMC – Dr. John Repine
Deciding Official – Dr. Richard Traystman
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Process flow when an allegation is
received:
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Resources
• UCD Research Ethics and Research Misconduct website:
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/research/AboutUs/regc
omp/researchethics/Pages/ResearchEthics.aspx
• Alison Lakin – Research Integrity Officer – 303 724 1010 [email protected]
• John Repine – Chair CRE – [email protected]
• ORI website: http://ori.dhhs.gov
• ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research
by Nicholas Steneck
• ORI DVD The Lab
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