Responsible Conduct of Research

Marymount University is committed to ensuring research integrity and the responsible and ethical conduct of research.  Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) at the University is consistent with the definition commonly used by federal funding agencies and professional societies and means “the practice of scientific investigation with integrity.  It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research.”

Research integrity is a fundamental expectation of all faculty, staff, students, and collaborators engaging in research activities at Marymount University. Marymount’s research community is committed to assuring that research and professional activities encompass core areas of collaborative science/research; identification and appropriate management of conflicts of interest; policies and procedures regarding data acquisition, management and sharing; Human Research Protections; Mentoring; Peer Reviews; publications practices and responsible authorship; and research misconduct reporting and investigations processes.

Research misconduct is defined as “fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Research misconduct does NOT include honest error or differences of opinion” (42 C.F.R. Part 93).

Marymount will investigate accusations of research misconduct using the processes described in the Policy and Procedures Manual for Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct will do so in an unbiased and good faith manner.

The University will regularly review its policies and procedures relative to the responsible conduct of research and ensure that faculty and any pertinent research staff who engage in federally- funded research complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative’s (CITI) online training program on the Responsible Conduct of Research, which is recommended for all researchers, and includes an overview of concepts relative to research integrity; Human Subjects Research; financial conflicts of interest; and research misconduct.

Any person who observes or suspects possible research misconduct should contact one of the following individuals:

Research Integrity Officer: Rita Wong, Associate VP for Research, rwong@marymount.edu; 703-284-5982

Research Integrity Investigator: Alison Gregory, University Librarian, agregory@marymount.edu;