Resources | MIT Office of the Vice President for Research

Resources for understanding research misconduct.

- CITI Course in the Responsible Conduct of Research
  
  MIT’s preferred course (and in certain circumstances a required course) in the Responsible Conduct of Research. The course requires an MIT personal certificate. For more information please follow the link to MIT’s Research Administration Services.
- 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.
- Scientific Integrity: Text and Cases in Responsible Conduct of Research, Fourth Edition.
  
  Francis L. Macrina. ASM Press, Washington, DC (July 23, 2014). Individuals interested in obtaining a copy of this book may contact MIT's Office of the Vice President for Research. [Note: as of 8/25/14 the book’s companion website is under construction].
- 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. (5th ed.). Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) (2012). 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).
- Guidelines for Scientific Record Keeping, First Edition
  
  National Institutes of Health (NIH) – sourcebook December 2008
- 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:
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.

- MIT’s Comparative Media Studies | Writing – “Avoiding Plagiarism.”
- 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)
- Understanding Plagiarism
  
  Suggested resource from ORI, by Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall
- Citing Sources
  
  MIT Libraries’ Research Guide.
- Overview of citation software at MIT: Managing your references
  
  MIT Libraries’ Research Guide.
- What is Plagiarism?
  
  Academic Integrity at MIT: A Handbook for Students.
- 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: “Nature Publishing Group is part of CrossCheck, an initiative to help editors verify the originality of submitted manuscripts. As part of this process, selected submitted manuscripts are scanned and compared with the CrossCheck database. If a case of plagiarism comes to light after a paper is published in a Nature journal, the journal will conduct a preliminary investigation. If plagiarism is found, the journal will contact the author’s institute and funding agencies.” .
- The American Economic Association – CrossCheck: “In an effort to prevent plagiarism, the American Economic Association subscribes to CrossCheck to screen its submissions. CrossCheck has a ‘database of current and archival scholarly literature’ and uses the Ithenticate tool to ‘compare authored work against the content in the database and highlight matching or similar text for further editorial review.’ Submission to AEA journals implies permission of the Association to check the submission electronically for plagiarism, using the CrossCheck system.” (Content no longer available.)

- 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