Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) : Research and Engagement : UMass Amherst

"Adherence to the highest ethical and moral standards in the conduct of research and scholarly activity is the expectation for all members of the University of Massachusetts community. Each campus shall establish and submit to the President's office for approval procedures to promote research integrity through the responsible conduct of research as well as procedures for pursuing investigations of allegations of scientific misconduct. Research Misconduct means fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, reporting, or reviewing research, not including honest error or difference of opinion (UMass Trustee Doc. T08-010)."

RECR Defined

RECR is the ongoing process of reconciling regulations, guidelines, standards, and ethics to promote integrity in the proposing, planning, conducting, reporting, and reviewing of research. Integrity in scholarship and research is one of the university’s fundamental values.

Until recently, RECR focused primarily on research misconduct, defined by the themes of data fabrication and plagiarism. Today, RECR is viewed as a much broader set of guiding principles and behaviors on topics including, but not limited to:

Plagiarism, Authorship, Collaborative Research, Conflicts of Interest, Data Management, Mentoring, Peer Review, Research Misconduct, and Research Security and Transparency.

RECR at UMass Program Information

University of Massachusetts RECR Program Statement (Word)

University of Massachusetts RECR Plan (Word)

Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research Training is available in CITI to everyone with an active UMass Amherst NetID.

How can we help with your RECR/RCR education needs?

There are a variety of ways the Office of Research Compliance can help with RECR education. Please submit this brief form and we will be in touch soon!