Responsible Conduct in Research Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership

Introduction The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) supports several programs designed to promote education and training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) that covers the following nine instructional areas: – Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership – Conflict of Interest and Commitment – Human Subjects – Animal Welfare – Research Misconduct – Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship – Mentor / Trainee Responsibilities – Peer Review – Collaborative Science Also included and important is the financial management of the grant funds and the appropriate charging of research expenses. Education in responsible conduct is essential because unethical or compromised behaviors on the part of researchers lead the public to lose trust in the research community. When trust is lost, credibility is lost. When credibility is lost, the opportunity to improve human well-being and protect the environmental is lost. When belief that science can make a difference is lost, funding for research is lost. The America Competes Act states that any graduate student, undergraduate student or postdoctoral associate who receives support from a federal award MUST have instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research.

Research Misconduct Research Misconduct – The Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President has issued a definition of misconduct that applies to all agencies and recipients of federal funds. – NSF and PHS (Public Health Service - including NIH) have implemented this policy. – Research Misconduct is defined 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. This includes taking another’s proposal ideas during the review of their proposal. It does not include honest error or differences of opinion!

Video Case Study Video Courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Office of Research Integrity Click on black square to play the video 1.How would you have handled the request for the project data? 1.Is it ok to give out project data to anyone who asks for it? 2.When is it not appropriate to share information? 2.Do you think that the outlier data issue was handled correctly? 1.What are the consequences of holding back the outlier data?

Some Facts to Ponder From the Online Ethics Center- – Some general norms for the responsible management of data can be simply stated and are found in various forms in recent policy statements of many research institutions and funding agencies. Among them are: The primary data, the methods used to obtain them, and the procedures applied to the primary data to create compilations of them or derivations from them must be accurately reported. If the primary data are based on human observation, those observations should be recorded promptly and accurately and in sufficient detail to preserve the record of factors that might turn out to be significant, and in a way that minimizes doubt about the time of the occurrence or the time at which it was recorded. The data record should be kept reasonably free from risk of damage. Where practicable, copies may be made of the data either to facilitate sharing among collaborators or to further safeguard it. Necessary research materials should be made available to others who attempt to replicate your work. Institutions that are the recipients of research grants own the data from those research projects. The Principal Investigator (PI) for a project has custody of that data and primary responsibility for maintenance of the data record and such matters as preserving the confidentiality of sensitive information about human subjects, if any, in the data record. Collaborators on the research project for which the data was collected, including trainee collaborators, have the right of access to the data. The research data should preserved for a reasonable number of years after the appearance of final reports or publications resulting from the research. The amount of time varies with the nature of the research. Good data management practices depend the character of the data. Data may be in the form of a written record, photographs, gels, or, as in high energy physics, in the form computer record of masses of data, which, though primary, is filtered as it is collected, to exclude what is judged to be "noise". Students and other trainees need to have field-specific criteria for data management made explicit in order to understand the specific actions required of them.

Data Policies and Guidelines – NSF policy on Dissemination and Sharing of Research Results – NIH Policy on Data Sharing - and – Guidelines for Responsible Data Management in Scientific Research -

Resources Guidelines for Responsible Data Management in Scientific Research Online Ethics Center - The Responsible Collection, Retention, Sharing, and Interpretation of Data Data Acquisition and Management Training Module – Columbia University Data Management Module – Northern Illinois University Cary Institute Intellectual Property Policy (Page 126) University of New Hampshire -

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