Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, reporting, or reviewing research. It does not include honest errors in the recording, selection, or analysis of data or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data. Scholarly activity is broadly construed to include all activities of university personnel on official duty involving research, scholarship, and creative activities, such as those involved in laboratory research, field work, observational studies, experimentation, research, and scholarship in the humanities and artistic expression.
Research and scholarly misconduct includes misrepresentation of the procedures and outcomes of research to gain some advantage. Misconduct may often be difficult to separate from error or poor judgment, from which it is distinguished by the intentions of the person(s) involved.
The university's Procedures for Dealing with Charges of Misconduct in Research and Scholarly Activity is written to comply with federal regulations requiring such procedures and also to maintain and enhance the integrity of research. See Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarly Activity (Trustee Doc: T08-010) for further guidance.
Resources:
- UMass Amherst Whistleblowing Policy
- Strategies to Help Prevent Plagiarism —NSF OIG Corner, NCURA Magazine May/June 2022
- Misconduct Case Summaries —U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services, Office of Research Integrity (ORI)