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Scholarly Misconduct Policy (AA 19)

OWNER: Office of the Provost
Phone: 702-992-2634
CATEGORY: Academic Affairs/Faculty, Research
POLICY ID#: AA 19
EFFECTIVE DATE: 9/24/2019
VIEWING/DOWNLOADING OPTIONS:
Web – Formatted (this page)


POLICY STATEMENT

Nevada State University neither condones nor tolerates scholarly misconduct by its employees, including academic faculty. Scholars and researchers bear the primary responsibility for the monitoring and rigorous evaluation of procedures and results of research and other scholarly activities under their supervision. All members of the University community adhere to the University’s strict standards of integrity in academic scholarship and research and are ethically obligated to report any fraudulent acts when they are known or suspected to have occurred.

DEFINITIONS

Fabrication: Making up data or results and recording or reporting them as authentic.

Falsification: 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: Appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.

Scholarly Misconduct: Dishonesty in proposing, performing, or reviewing research or in reporting results. Includes Fabrication, Falsification, Plagiarism, or other practices which seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the academic community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research. Does not include honest error.

PROCEDURES

I. Ethical Standards for Research and Other Scholarly Activity

The NSHE Code (Chapter 6, Sections 6.2.1(y)) prohibits faculty from conducting “acts of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, falsifying research data or results, or assisting others to do the same.” Faculty and staff at Nevada State College shall uphold the following ethical standards in the performance of their activities:

A. Project Directors (PDs) and Principal Investigators (PIs) must comply with all internal and external requirements for protecting human subjects, project personnel, and the public and for ensuring the welfare of laboratory animals.

B. Scholars and researchers must not fall below accepted professional standards in proposing their activities, carrying them out, and reporting their results. Primary data must be scrupulously collected and retained.

C. All participants in scholarly/research activity must avoid both intentional and negligent behavior which may result in violation of the law; dishonesty or fraud; Fabrication; Falsification; or Plagiarism.

D. Cooperative efforts require mutual attention to the integrity of the scholarly processes involved. Joint authorship entails joint responsibility; each author claiming shared credit must be aware of the risk of shared discredit.

E. Senior scholars and researchers must avoid exploitation of junior colleagues and students. Claims of credit, co-authorship, and intellectual property should reflect actual involvement, responsibility, and effort.

F. Project Directors and Principal Investigators performing sponsored scholarly/research activity (e.g., supported through a grant, contract, or gift) must be free to manage their sponsored funding to the maximum extent allowed by the funding agency and the rules of the College. They must be knowledgeable of and responsive to internal and external requirements of financial responsibility and accountability to avoid misallocation, misappropriation, or misuse of sponsor/donor funds.

G. Present or proposed activities or relationships which present a conflict of interest (e.g., affect the objectivity of research or scholarship, give the appearance of being motivated by private financial gain, and/or involve unacceptable commitments for a scholar/researcher) must be disclosed and approved by the employee’s supervisor and the Office of the Provost prior to committing to such activities or relationships.

II. Procedures for Dealing with Allegations of Research or Scholarly Misconduct

Allegations of misconduct shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Title 2, Chapter 6 of the NSHE Handbook.

A. All allegations of misconduct should be reported in writing to the Executive Vice Provost (or, in the absence of this individual, to the Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives). Allegations must be signed by the submitter. Wherever possible, the allegation must specify details including the date, time, place, persons involved, witnesses, and circumstances of the alleged misconduct.

B. The Executive Vice Provost will conduct an inquiry in accordance with NSHE Code, Section 6.8.2 and, based on this inquiry, will make a determination regarding whether a valid allegation of misconduct exists. The Executive Vice Provost will make a recommendation to the President to dismiss the allegation, accept an informal resolution (as described in NSHE Code, Section 6.8.2(c)), or conduct a hearing (NSHE Code, Section 6.8.2(d)). If the President determines that a hearing is warranted, a hearing will be conducted in accordance with NSHE Code, Sections 6.8.2.(3) and 6.9. The President may instead dismiss the complaint, accept an informal resolution, or determine that a reprimand or warning is appropriate, as set forth in NSHE Code Chapter 6, Section 6.6.

C. The maintenance of confidentiality is the guiding principle for this process, to protect both those who make the allegations and those against whom the allegations are made. As few people as are necessary shall be involved in the process, and all records dealing with an allegation, its review, and its disposition shall be treated in accordance with NSHE Code Chapter 5, Section 5.6 and Chapter 6, Sections 6.14 and 6.15.

D. If an inquiry involves funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the College is required to immediately report such inquiry to the Federal DHHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI). The Hearing Committee and any federal sponsors must submit a report to ORI within 120 days of the beginning of the hearing.

E. If an allegation of Scholarly Misconduct is made regarding a research project involving human subjects, the Executive Vice Provost may inform the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which may conduct an audit or other oversight activities according to IRB policy.

RELATED INFORMATION

  • NSHE Handbook Title 2, Section 5.6, 6.1, 6.6, 6.8, and 6.9
  • NSC Institutional Review Board Policy (RE 1)

APPROVALS

Approved by Dr. Serge Ballif, Faculty Senate Chair, September 7, 2019.
Approved by Dr. Vickie Shields, Provost, September 11, 2019.
Approved by Bart Patterson, President, September 24, 2019.