College of Management: Academic Integrity Workshop

Maintaining ethical standards is paramount in scholarly research. Participation in these activities requires oneself to behave with the highest standards of honesty and responsibility to the contribution of knowledge in their chosen field or discipline.

Scientific research violations are defined as research misconduct. The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, identifies the actions of fabrications, falsification, and plagiarism as research misconduct violations.

Research misconduct is outlined in the Public Health Service policies on research misconduct. Final rule. Found in section A. Definition of Research Misconduct, Sec. 93.103

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

Examples of fabrication include:

• making up data for grant funded research
• altering research results to comply with research findings
• tampering with image panels in labs
• making up data in research charts, graphs and illustrations

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.

Examples of falsification include:

• presenting false transcripts or references in an application for a program or grant
• submitting work that’s not yours or not crediting another researcher
• falsely reporting data or altering the results of tests
• mislabeling or reusing images used in research results

According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary plagiarism is “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own.”

Plagiarism also means:

• submitting answers or papers from paid websites such as Chegg is plagiarism if the work is NOT cited
• submitting someone else's work (in whole, part, or paraphrase) as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author
• submitting as one's original work materials obtained from an individual or an online source
• submitting as one's own original work material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others

Sometimes plagiarism is accidental. It happens when we are not careful about taking notes and forgetting to cite a source, or failing to include quotations around direct quotes. Even though these actions are unintentional they are still considered plagiarism.

The best way to avoid committing accidental plagiarism is to follow research protocols, allow yourself plenty of time to conduct your research and keep careful notes.