Resources

• CITI Course in the Responsible Conduct of Research

  MIT’s preferred course (and in certain circumstances a required course) in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research. The course requires an MIT personal certificate. 

• Fostering Academic Integrity: Report of the Committee on Academic Responsibility (The Widnall Report)

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 15, 1992. Note that since the original publication of this report, MIT’s Academic Misconduct Policy has been revised.

• The Lab - Avoiding Research Misconduct

  An interactive movie by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

• Research Misconduct

  A suggested web module resource from ORI, by Columbia University

• ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research, Revised Edition (Aug. 2007)

  Nicholas H. Steneck, Ph.D., Illustrations by David Zinn. (also available as PDF).

• On Being A Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct In Research, Third Edition.

  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.  A suggested resource from ORI, by National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.

• Misconduct of Others: Prevention Techniques for Researchers.

  Jane A. Steinberg. Observer, a publication by the Association for Psychological Science, Vol. 15 No. 1 (January 2002).

MIT Libraries’ Research Data Management Services is available to assist MIT faculty and researchers manage, store, and share data.  For more information, visit http://libraries.mit.edu/data-management/.

Additional Resources:

• Guide to Social Science Data Preparation and Archiving: Best Practice Throughout the Data Life Cycle. (6th ed.). Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) (2020). Ann Arbor, MI.

• Managing Data for Integrity: Policies and Procedures for Ensuring the Accuracy and Quality of the Data in the Laboratory.

  Chris B. Pascal. Science and Engineering Ethics 2006, 12(1):23-29.

• Chapter 8: Data Management and Laboratory Notebooks

  Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, Second Edition. Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006).

• National Cancer Institute: Guide for Keeping Laboratory Records

  National Institutes of Health (NIH) – October 2009

Many allegations of research misconduct question the integrity and/or authenticity of figures. To minimize the chances of this type of allegation being made, be sure to follow journal guidelines and editorial policies for preparation of figures. In most cases, it is acceptable to group or consolidate data (i.e., crop images, remove lanes from gels and blots, etc.), but alterations should be apparent (space left or line separating bands included) and be explicitly indicated in the figure legend.

Example journal guidelines and/or policies:

• Cell - Data Processing Policy
• Nature – Policy on Image Integrity

Additional Resources:

• Image rights and wrongs

  Editorial. Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, No. 9, 627 (Sept. 2010).

• Online Learning Tool for Research Integrity and Image Processing

  Suggested resource from ORI, by University of Alabama Birmingham

• What’s in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation

  Mike Rossner, et al. The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 166, No.1: 11-14 (2004), The Rockefeller University Press. Suggested resource from ORI.

• Avoiding plagiarism, self plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing

  A guide written by Miguel Roig, Ph.D., of St. Johns University with funding from ORI (also available as PDF)

• Citing Sources

  MIT Libraries’ Research Guide.

• ORI Policy on Plagiarism

  From ORI Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1 (December 1994).

• ORI Newsletter Focuses on Plagiarism

  Office of Research Integrity Newsletter, Vol. 20, No. 3 (June 2012).

  After closing four cases involving plagiarism in 2011, ORI’s June 2012 Newsletter featured Plagiarism as its topic.

• Nature – Policy on Plagiarism - "Plagiarism and duplicate publication"

• RCR: Research Misconduct by Columbia University

• ORI Newsletter: Spotlight on Mentoring. 

  Office of Research Integrity Newsletter. Vol. 22, No. 3 (June 2014).

  Writers share their commentary about the role of a mentor in promoting best practices and preventing research misconduct.

• Mentoring International Post Docs: Working Together to Advance Science and Careers (2004)

  Project by The Joseph Stokes Jr. Research Institute of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, with funding from ORI

• Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering.

  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1997. Suggested resource from ORI, by National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.

• Nature’s Guide for Mentors. Adrian Lee, et al.  Nature 447, 791-797 (June 14, 2007)

• Mentoring and Research Misconduct: An Analysis of Research Mentoring in Closed ORI Cases.

  David E. Wright, et al., Science and Engineering Ethics 2008, 14:323-336. A suggested resource from ORI.

• ORI Misconduct Case Summaries re: Fabrication / Falsification / Plagiarism

  U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services: Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

• NSF Misconduct Closeout Memoranda 

  National Science Foundation