Avoiding Research MisconductCenter for AIDS Research, Mentoring Program

May 15th from 9-10:30 AM at 1700 Owens (Mission Bay Campus), 4th Floor Conference Room

Greta W. SchnetzlerChief Campus Counsel

Theresa O’LonerganChief Ethics and Compliance Officer

Office of Research Integrity “ORI” The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) oversees and directs Public Health Service (PHS) research integrity activities on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services with the exception of the regulatory research integrity activities of the Food and Drug Administration.

Organizationally, ORI is located within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) within Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (OS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct2

https://ori.hhs.gov/

Extensive resources for training your research teams on issues of research integrity. Many excellent interactive tools and learning modules.

Office of Research Integrity “ORI”

Developing policies, procedures and regulations related to the detection, investigation, and prevention of research misconduct and the responsible conduct of research;

Reviewing and monitoring research misconduct investigations conducted by applicant and awardee institutions, intramural research programs, and the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);

Recommending research misconduct findings and administrative actions to the Assistant Secretary for Health for decision, subject to appeal;

ORI carries out its responsibility by:

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct3

Office of Research Integrity “ORI”

Implementing activities and programs to teach the responsible conduct of research, promote research integrity, prevent research misconduct, and improve the handling of allegations of research misconduct;

Conducting policy analyses, evaluations and research to build the knowledge base in research misconduct, research integrity, and prevention and to improve HHS research integrity policies and procedures;

Administering programs for: maintaining institutional assurances, responding to allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers, approving intramural and extramural policies and procedures, and responding to Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests.

ORI provides assistance by:

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct4

Definition of Research Misconduct

(a) Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.

(b) 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.

(c) Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.

(d) Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion

Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct5

UCSF Policies on Research Misconduct

Integrity of Research Academic Administrative Policy (100-29) http://policies.ucsf.edu/policy/100-29

Integrity of Research Procedures http://academicaffairs.ucsf.edu/academic-personnel/media/integrityofresearchproc.pdf

Quality research requires adherence to the highest standards of integrity in proposing, conducting and reporting research. 

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct6

Who makes reports of research misconduct?

Principal Investigators who suspect someone on their team

Peer reviewers who spot problems in publications or grant proposals

Colleagues at other institutions

Collaborators or members of the research team who object to what they feel is unethical behavior

Employees who feel mistreated

Anonymous whistleblowers

Clare Francis

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct7

“Clare Francis”

Francis, whose real identity, gender, and occupation remain unknown (may be more than one individual), is notorious among journal editors as a relentless whistleblower. However, she has referred to herself as an “attentive reader.”

In e-mails alerting editors to possible problems in published papers, she most often details evidence of tampering in figures, including duplication, rotations, and mirror images.

Clare Francis is a pseudonym used since 2010 for hundreds of whistleblower allegations sent to the editors of scientific journals that call attention to suspected cases of plagiarism and fabricated or duplicated figures

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct8

What happens when a complaint of research misconduct is received? Sequestration of records

Inquiry

Investigation by a faculty ad hoc committee

Much time and effort by PI and members of research team in gathering information and participating in interviews

Research may be stalled, experiments may have to be repeated

Publication may be delayed

Overall lab productivity is negatively affected

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct9

What happens when there is a finding of research misconduct?

Withdrawal of publications, correction of the scientific record

Institutional discipline

Report to ORI, which may initiate its own investigation

Ultimately may be suspended or barred from any PHS research

Can be career-ending

04/21/23Presentation Title and/or Sub Brand Name Here10

Plagiarism / Self-Plagiarism

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct11

Understand the definitions (www.plagiarism.org; http://ori.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/plagiarism.pdf )

Avoid use of “placeholders”

Use standard citation and paraphrasing even when referencing your own work

Ask yourself if article as a whole represents original work that contributes something new to the field

Consider use of plagiarism detection tools

Allow adequate time for editorial review prior to submission

Sloppy practices can lead to problems:

Re-use, Misuse, Manipulation of Images, Falsification

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct12

ORI has developed extensive forensic tools and techniques for identifying this kind of research misconduct.

Includes flipping, mirror images, manipulation in Photoshop, cut and paste, etc….

“Clare Francis” has also reported cases involving this type of research misconduct

Use of placeholder images that make their way into the final publication

Online Learning module on image processing: Common Mistakes

Selective enhancements

Cropping

Contrast/brightness adjustments

Color adjustments

Cloning objects into an image

Resizing

http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/RIandImages/default.html

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct13

Fabrication of Data

Includes reporting data for experiments never conducted, but also rounding, estimating or predicting outcomes based on initial or other work done.

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct14

Leadership – Giving Credit

Set ground rules, principals and expectations for how authorship is to be determined and explain that at the outset of a project.

Understand standards in the field for establishing authorship credit and order

Follow ethical guidelines for dealing with credit for students and post-docs

Don’t bend the rules

Get credit by giving credit

Authorship disputes are not research misconduct but they can negatively affect research productivity—Avoid such disputes by being proactive.

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct15

ORI “The Lab” Video

http://ori.hhs.gov/TheLab/TheLab.shtml

In "The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct," you become the lead characters in an interactive movie and make decisions about integrity in research that can have long-term consequences. The simulation addresses Responsible Conduct of Research topics such as avoiding research misconduct, mentorship responsibilities, handling of data, responsible authorship, and questionable research practices.

5/15/2015Avoiding Research Misconduct16

UCSF is driven by the idea that great breakthroughs are achieved when the best research, the best education and the best patient care converge.