The University of Connecticut is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in the performance, reporting, reviewing and proposing of research and scholarly activity. To this end, it is the responsibility of all faculty, staff, students, trainees and visiting scientists to refrain from and prevent research misconduct.
Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
- Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
- Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
- Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit. Authorship disputes are not defined as plagiarism in this policy.
Research misconduct does not include honest errors or differences of opinion.
It is also the responsibility of the research community to report suspected incidents of research misconduct.
Policies
Policy on Alleged Misconduct in Research
Reporting Research Concerns
All concerns related to human research, animal research, conflict of interest, research misconduct, research financial accounting, research safety or other research compliance matters should be reported by calling Research Integrity & Compliance at 860-679-2230, Office of University Compliance at 860-486-2530, or the specific area.
Concerns can also be reported anonymously through the REPORTLINE by calling a toll-free number at (888) 685-2637 or via the REPORTLINE website. The REPORTLINE is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year operated by a private (non-UConn) company. You may contact the hotline to report a concern without giving your name. You will be able to re-contact the REPORTLINE to track your report to provide further information at a later date or to obtain general updates about the status of your concern.
The University welcomes and encourages good-faith reporting. As such, individuals who submit a report or participate in a compliance investigation in good faith are provided protection from retaliation per the University’s Non-Retaliation Policy.
Additional information on reporting concerns can be found at the Office of University Compliance website..pdf
Resources
The following is a list of videos on research misconduct and integrity from the US Office of Research Integrity.
The Lab, Avoiding Research Misconduct – In this interactive movie, you can choose an alter-ego and become a graduate student, post doc, PI or RIO, and make decisions facing you in a case of data falsification. Decisions that can have long-term consequences on your career. The movie addresses topics such as avoiding research misconduct, mentorship, data stewardship, authorship, and more. The movie has versions in English, Spanish and Chinese.
The Research Clinic – In this movie, you can become a PI, a clinical research coordinator, a research assistant, or an institutional review board (IRB) chair, and make decisions that protect research subjects and avoid research misconduct.