About Research Misconduct

The ethical conduct and reporting of research is a vital component for the public trust in and funding of academic research. Misconduct in research harms the individuals involved but also threatens the integrity of the department, college, university, and broader scientific community. University policies and procedures encompass the definition of what constitutes misconduct, the process of investigating misconduct and consequences of research misconduct.

Research Misconduct is fabrication, falsification of data and/or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results; however, it does NOT include honest errors, differences in opinion or authorship disputes.

• Fabrication is defined as making-up data or results or recording or reporting made-up data or results.
• Falsification is the act of 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.
  • Plagiarism also includes the unattributed verbatim or nearly verbatim copying of sentences and paragraphs from another’s work that materially misleads the reader regarding the contributions of the author. It does not include the limited use of identical or nearly identical phrases that describe a commonly used methodology.
  • Plagiarism does not include self-plagiarism or authorship or credit disputes among former collaborators who participated jointly in the development or conduct of a research project.

*Please note, since research misconduct does NOT include honest errors, differences in opinion or authorship disputes, these are generally referred to the Department Chair/Administrator for resolution.

UNL’s Research Misconduct Policy covers all institutional members, regardless of funding, defined as any person who is employed by, is an agent of, or is affiliated by contract or agreement with UNL.

Institutional members could include, but are not limited to:

• Officials
• Faculty
• Teaching staff
• Support staff
• Researchers
• Research coordinators
• Clinical technicians
• Postdoctoral and other fellows
• Students
• Volunteers
• Agents
• Contractors
• Subcontractors
• Sub-awardees and their employees

Procedures

There are three basic phases to any research misconduct investigation once an allegation has been received (allegation, inquiry and investigation):

1. The allegation is evaluated by the Research Integrity Officer to determine if it falls within the definition of research misconduct (fabrication, falsification and/or plagiarism).
2. If the allegation falls within the definition, an inquiry process is initiated to gather information about the allegation.
3. Based upon the findings of the inquiry, a formal investigation could be launched.

The UNL research misconduct policy prohibits institutional members from retaliating in any way against complainants, witnesses, or committee members. Institutional members are obligated to immediately report any alleged or apparent retaliation against complainants, witnesses or committee members to the Research Integrity Officer (RIO), who shall review the matter and, as necessary, make all reasonable and practical efforts to counter any potential or actual retaliation and protect and restore the position and reputation of the person against whom the retaliation is directed.

Policy & Resources

Research Compliance, Integrity, and Security and the Office of Research and Innovation treat all research misconduct allegations seriously and confidentially. All institutional members are obligated to promptly report observed, suspected, or apparent research misconduct to the Research Integrity Officer (RIO). If you would like to discuss or report a situation in which research misconduct has occurred please contact the RIO. For additional information, please consult the UNL Research Misconduct Policy or the other resources below.

UNL Research Misconduct Policy (Updated 1/2026)

Additional Resources

Office of Research Integrity (Department of Health and Human Services)

Office of Inspector General (National Science Foundation)

Complainant FAQ *This file is restricted to UNL users only. To access this file, you need UNL credentials.

Respondent FAQ *This file is restricted to UNL users only. To access this file, you need UNL credentials.