Office of Research Integrity
Research is a fundamental element of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's mission. As such, priority is placed protecting the integrity of the research conducted at UTHSC. The Office of Research Integrity is responsible for responding to allegations of research misconduct brought against all faculty and staff members of UTHSC who are involved in the design, conduct or reporting of research.
"The University of Tennessee Policy and Procedure on Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarly Activities" defines the policy for dealing with allegations of research misconduct as well as the related procedures.
The Research Integrity Officer:
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- deals promptly with allegations or evidence of possible research misconduct;
- serves as a liaison between federal agencies and UTHSC when allegations of research misconduct arise;
- promotes the responsible conduct of research, conduct of research, and research training for UTHSC faculty, students, and staff;
- educates faculty, students and staff about research misconduct policies and procedures.
Research Integrity Officer
Report allegations of research misconduct to the Research Integrity Officer for further action:
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry
mamiller@uthsc.edu
Research Misconduct
Research Misconduct is defined by the Federal Register which is the Public Health Service Policy: Federal Register e-CFR: Title 42, Part 93 Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct
§93.103 of the Federal Register defines Research Misconduct as 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.
Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.
Authorship Dispute Committee
The Authorship Dispute committee handles disputes about general authorship complaints which do not fall under the RIO’s jurisdiction of plagiarism. This committee uses the ICMJE Recommendations.
While it is preferred that departments and colleges arbitrate these types of disputes, if a resolution cannot be found, this committee will be convened to make a recommendation.
This committee is made up of representatives from all of the colleges at UTHSC*:
Dr. Mark Miller, Chair
Dr. Terry Ackerman, CGHS
Dr. Laura Thoma, COP
Dr. Melody Waller, CON
Dr. Franklin Garcia-Godoy, COD
Dr. Zheng Fan, COM
*There is currently no representative from CHS
Resources for Researchers
Research mentors
Beginning and young scientists
Guidelines for digital imaging