The U.S. Public Health Service requires The University of Mississippi to have a scientific research misconduct policy in place. The UM Research Misconduct Policy relates to activities associated with the collection, analysis, and reporting of theoretical, basic, and applied research. The policy applies to faculty, staff, research associates, individuals holding postdoctoral or adjunct appointments, graduate students, undergraduate students who are employed doing data analysis or other research-based work for a faculty member, and any other individual who is employed by or enrolled at The University of Mississippi and doing basic, theoretical, or applied research.

The following types of practices are defined as research misconduct:

• violation of any criminal or civil law in obtaining, analyzing or reporting data;
• plagiarism;
• intentional falsification or fabrication of data or results, including forging data, “cooking data,” or “trimming data;”
• applying for federal funding while under federal suspension or debarment, or knowingly utilizing as a co-principal investigator, technician, consultant, or subcontractor a person who is suspended or debarred;
• failure to maintain a record of primary data, with the intent to deceive;
• failure to report known or suspected acts of misconduct on the part of others;
• abuse of confidentiality when gathering or reporting data;
• use of honorary authorships without the person’s consent and/or with the intent to deceive;
• making a demand to be listed as an author on a researcher’s publication, without being involved with the research in question, solely because the person making the demand is in a position of authority over the author.

The investigation of an alleged misconduct is a two-step process: The Inquiry Phase and the Investigatory Phase. Researchers should refer to the Research Misconduct Policy for complete details.

Note: All allegations of research misconduct are to be reported to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs.