Handbook | University Policies and Regulations | Conduct as a member of the research community
III. Conduct as a member of the research community
m. Intellectual Property Policy
Any graduate student who expects to be involved in research with potential commercial implications should carefully consult the University's Intellectual Property Policy (Doc. T96-040). Particularly important are the sections on ownership of intellectual property, the administrative procedures associated with inventions and copyrightable works, and the University's role, if any, in protecting the work in question. The full text of the policy is available on the Web at www.umass.edu/research/ora/intel.html . Individuals who need clarification of any points in the full policy should contact the University's Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property, tel. (413) 545-3606; email: cvip@grad.umass.edu.
See the full text at: http://www.umass.edu/research/ora/intel.html
n. Human Subjects and Animal Care Policies
The University has policies and procedures in place to protect humans and animals in relation to research. Specific information concerning these policies is available from academic department offices and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Animal Care Office.
See the full text at:
http://www.umass.edu/research/humsub.html
http://www.umass.edu/research/aco/
o. Misconduct in Research and Scholarly Activities
Misconduct in scholarly activities is injurious to the University's teaching, research, and public service missions and cannot be tolerated. The Research Council of the Faculty Senate has established guidelines for investigations of allegations of misconduct in scholarly activities. It is written to comply with federal regulations requiring such procedures and also to maintain and enhance the integrity of research on our campus. Copies of these guidelines are available in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
See the full text at: http://www.umass.edu/provost/admin/policies/misconduct.pdf
p. Joint Authorship Policy
Approval of Graduate Student Research and Teaching Projects Involving Animal Subjects
The Graduate Council of the Faculty Senate has approved a Policy Statement of Joint Authorship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The statement provides guidelines for authorship and coauthorship of scholarly works by collaborators. Copies of this policy are available in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property Office.
See the full text at: http://www.umass.edu/research/ogca/policies/jntauth.htm
q. Approval of Graduate Student Research and Teaching Projects Involving Animal Subjects
All research and teaching activities involving the use of vertebrate animals must be approved by the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) before initiation in keeping with the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (Public Law 89-544, and subsequent amendments), the Health Research Extension Act (Public Law 99-158, and subsequent amendments), the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the "University of Massachusetts Assurance of Compliance with Public Health Policy on Human Care and Use of Laboratory Animals". This policy applies to any UMass employee or student who uses vertebrate animals in research or teaching. For UMass policy for Teaching Assistants who use animals in classes please review the " Animal User Training - Teaching Assistants" guidelines at http://www.umass.edu/research/aco.
A graduate student's research project using animals must be documented in an animal use protocol on which his/her advisor is the Principal Investigator (PI). The student may not initiate any research using animals until the protocol has been reviewed and approved by the UMass Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). It is recommended that the graduate student be closely involved in the preparation of the protocol. IACUC protocol forms are available online at http://www.umass.edu/research/comply. Review and approval of a project using animals normally takes a month to six weeks from protocol submission but may take up to three months for research conducted at another institution.
If the research using animals will be conducted at another institution the graduate student and faculty advisor should inquire whether the other institution has an IACUC. If it does the student's research activities must first be approved by that institution's IACUC. The faculty advisor should then submit the approved animal use protocol from the other institution to the UMass IACUC for review along with the letter documenting that institution's IACUC approval. Approval by the UMass IACUC will be contingent upon receipt of documentation that the other institution's IACUC has approved the submitted protocol. The UMass IACUC reserves the right to withhold its own approval pending satisfactory responses to its questions. The research may not proceed without documented approval by both IACUCs. If the other institution has no IACUC the project must be reviewed and approved by the UMass IACUC but see below if the project is funded by a federal Public Health Service (PHS) agency.
For projects conducted at another institution and funded by a PHS agency (e.g. NIH) the institution with which a collaborative study is planned must have an Assurance Statement on file with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) of NIH. This is a federal requirement for any collaborative study involving Public Health Service funding and applies to vendors and commercial collaborators as well as academic institutions. For PHS-funded international collaborations conducted at a foreign institution the host foreign institution needs a "Foreign Assurance" approved by OLAW.
