Research misconduct is defined by United States federal regulation and UAB policy as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing,
or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
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.
- Research misconduct does not include differences of opinion or honest error.
The threshold for proving misconduct charges requires that:
- There be a significant departure from accepted practices of the relevant research community; and
- The misconduct be committed intentionally, or knowingly, or recklessly; and
- The allegation be proven by a preponderance of evidence.
Notably, this definition of research misconduct and adjudicative framework only represents “a minimum standard for measuring acceptable behavior, not a standard for judging all behavior.”
Reporting Research Misconduct
Allegations of Research Misconduct are extraordinarily serious matters, and UAB employees must file such allegations confidentially to one of the following: (1) their department/unit head or designee (such as the Vice Chair for Research or Division Director), (2) the Dean or Dean’s designee (such as the Associate Dean for Research or comparable position) of the school in which their department/unit is located, (3) the UAB Research Integrity Officer or (4) the UAB Ethics Hotline
Research Integrity Officer Contact Information:
(205) 517-3437
See Also:
- UAB’s Pillars of Scientific Integrity
- Scientific Integrity Policies Framework
- Federal Scientific Integrity Links