Research Integrity, the Responsible Conduct of Research, and Plagiarism Cases Analysis

Among its duties, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is responsible for helping ensure the integrity of research programs at NSF. We investigate allegations of research misconduct (plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication) in NSF proposals and awards. We handle allegations conflict of interests and violations of the confidentiality of NSF’s merit review to ensure the integrity of that process. We also investigate allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers.

We previously completed a review of how grantees implemented NSF’s requirement to provide responsible conduct of research training to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. We have analyzed our plagiarism cases of the previous decade to accumulate data and potentially identify institutional strategies for preventing and reducing plagiarism. I will briefly discuss these topics and present our results.