The Office of Research Integrity has been paying close attention to national legislative efforts aimed at reducing research regulatory burden. Recently, legislation has been approved that includes the 21^st Century Cures Act, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, and changes to the National Defense Authorization Act. Many of these new legislative activities focus on creating a research policy board, requiring agencies to harmonize regulations, and reducing institutional administrative burden that will allow us to focus our resources on enhancing customer service. Our national partner, the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) summarized these initiatives in a clear and concise manner.
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Ethical research and scholarly publication is predicated on the notion of original thought, ideas, questions, and answers. Plagiarism is the most prevalent form of research misconduct and is the single most commonly reported violation at institutions nationwide. Proper citation to original source material is essential, even if the source is the author’s own previous work. Self-plagiarism (also referred to as text recycling) occurs when an individual reuses significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of his or her own work without acknowledging that he/she is doing so and citing the original work.
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Any institution that is under the purview of the Public Health Service Policy and/or the Animal Welfare Act is required to have an Attending Veterinarian (AV) on staff. The principal responsibility of the AV is to develop and implement an effective program of veterinary care for animals used in research and teaching. This program has multiple components including preventive medicine, proper use of anesthetics, analgesics, and tranquilizers; perioperative care; euthanasia; diagnostic procedures; and provision of veterinary care, emergency care and aspects of animal husbandry.
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This semester, several steps have been taken to advance the responsible conduct of research infrastructure at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In September, President DiPietro announced an updated Policy on Misconduct in Research and Service, which the Office of Research Integrity worked diligently to amend. This office has also labored to provide greater information on services available to the UT Knoxville research community through a series of web content on Responsible Conduct of Research, iThenticate, and a Responsible Conduct of Research Lunch and Learn Series of workshops. These efforts reflect the office’s dedication to UT’s faculty, staff, and students and to its journey to becoming a Top 25 public research university.
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In an effort to improve accessibility of campus information, instructional materials, and technology, UT has provided several resources to faculty and staff over the last year.
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