H-1 Academic Honesty in Research and Scholarly Activities

1.1 Purpose
 

The purpose of this policy and set of procedures is to promote academic honesty in all research and scholarly activities.  The policy assumes that academic honesty is fundamental to a healthy and productive environment for learning.  Professors, administrators, and professional staff members are responsible for upholding high standards of academic honesty in all of their academic endeavors.  Failure to live up to this responsibility is a breach of ethics and will be dealt with appropriately.
 

1.2 Definitions

1.  Misconduct is defined as the deliberate fabrication or falsification of research data or results:  plagiarism; failure appropriately to credit colleagues, students or research assistants who have participated in a project; or any other serious deviation from practices commonly accepted in the academic and scientific communities for proposing, conducting, or reporting results of research or scholarly activities.  Misconduct also refers to retaliation against a person who, acting in good faith, reports or provides information about an instance of suspected or alleged academic dishonesty.

2.  Inquiry is defined as a stage of preliminary information-gathering and initial fact-finding to determine whether an allegation or apparent instance of misconduct warrants an investigation.

3.  Investigation is defined as a formal examination and evaluation of facts to determine whether misconduct has taken place or, if misconduct has already been confirmed, to assess its extent and consequences and to determine appropriate action.

1.3 Policy
 

All research and scholarly activities in which employees of the university engage shall be conducted according to the recognized high ethical standards of the academic and scientific communities.  Such standards include, but are not limited to faithful representation of data and results, appropriately crediting one's sources, appropriately crediting one's colleagues and assistants who have participated in the research or scholarly activity, and accepting responsibility for the quality of work to which one's name is attached.  Academic honesty also includes the obligation to report activities which one believes to violate the ethical standards of the academic and scientific communities.

1.4 Procedures

1.  Suspicions or allegations of misconduct shall be reported in writing to the Provost for review and action. If the Provost has a possible conflict of interest, the allegation shall be reported to the President. In such instances, duties assigned to the Provost in implementing these procedures will be assigned to the President. If the allegation on the face of it is not worthy of an inquiry, the Provost will notify the person making the allegation of this determination within ten calendar days.

2.  If the allegation is judged worthy of an inquiry, the Provost will authorize an inquiry into the alleged misconduct and determine whether it warrants investigation as a violation of this policy.   The inquiry will last no longer than 60 calendar days and must include a meeting with the subject(s) of the suspicion or allegation. The inquiry will result in the Provost's Inquiry Report containing the following information:

a.  Name of the person(s) suspected of misconduct;

b.  General nature of the suspicions or allegations;

c.  The application/grant number (if government-funded);

d.  Evidence reviewed and persons interviewed; and

e.  Conclusion (i.e., a decision to dismiss the suspicions or allegations, or to proceed with an investigation).

3.  If the suspicions or allegations are dismissed, the Provost will notify the relevant parties within 10 working days.  A detailed record of the inquiry shall be maintained in the Office of the Provost for at least three years so that reasons for not conducting an investigation may be ascertained as needed.

4.  If the decision is made to begin an investigation, the Provost will notify the relevant parties and, after consultation with the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council, will appoint an Investigating Committee (IC).  The IC will consist of at least one tenured faculty representative from each academic school.

5.  The IC will be appointed and will receive the Provost's Inquiry Report within 10 days of completion of the inquiry. It will complete its investigation and reach its conclusion within 60 days of its initiation.

6.  The IC shall ensure the confidentiality of the proceedings.  It may request the advice and appearance of individuals familiar with the nature of the research or scholarly activity.  If it does, to the extent allowed by law, it shall maintain their confidentiality.

7.  The subject of the allegation may submit information and/or personally appear before the IC to present his or her case.  Prior to such an appearance, the subject of the allegation has the right to receive a written report from the IC detailing all the evidence relevant to the allegation.  At this appearance, he or she may bring legal counsel or an advisor, but must speak for himself or herself.  If either the IC or the subject of the allegation wishes to have legal counsel or an advisor present during the hearing, the Chair of the IC and/or the subject of the allegation must be notified at least one week in advance.  This meeting shall be conducted informally.

8.  A record of the proceedings and all related documentation shall be maintained by the IC's Chair throughout the investigative process.  Breach of confidentiality will be grounds for a charge of misconduct or other appropriate personnel action.

9.  Once the investigation has been completed, the IC shall issue a formal report summarizing its findings and conclusions, and this report may include majority and minority views.  Copies of the investigative report, the record of the proceedings and all related documentation will be forwarded to the Provost.  Within ten working days of receiving this report, the Provost will forward copies of the report to the relevant parties.

10.  All documentation related to the inquiry and investigation proceedings shall be stored in the Office of the Provost.

1.5 Penalties and Appeals

1.  Within ten working days of receipt of the report, the Provost shall impose sanctions which include, but are not limited to, a written reprimand to be placed in the employee's personnel file, withholding of  pay raises for a period of time, notification of the offense to the pertinent organizations and publishers, or initiating termination or dismissal procedures according to the regulations of the university.

2.  Retaliation against the person reporting the suspicions or allegations of misconduct is prohibited and shall be treated as misconduct.

3.  Interim administrative action may be taken by the university upon receipt of allegations of  misconduct.

4.  The subject of the investigation may appeal the IC's ruling and/or sanctions imposed by the Provost to the President. The appeal must occur within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the ruling and/or sanctions being appealed. The President's decision will be final and binding.

(This set of policies and procedures uses the concepts and most of the wording of PS 03.47, "Ethical Conduct in Research and Government-Sponsored Activities," of the University of Houston-Downtown.  We gratefully acknowledge their willingness to share the results of their work.)

H-2 UH System Intellectual Property and Copyright Policy
 

See 21.08 Intellectual Property      http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/policy/asa.html
 

H-3 Copyright and Permission
 

Information on copyright laws and the new TEACH Act relating to the use of intellectual materials is available through The Copyright Crash Course, developed by Georgia Harper who specializes in copyright law in her position with the University of Texas System. She has granted permission to use her crash course.
 

The American Library Association and Ken Crews, director of the copyright center at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, have summarized the new Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act. Also, UHV has an established policy on Academic Honesty and Intellectual Property.
 

Faculty are expected to ensure that their course does not infringe any copyright or violate any property rights. Faculty are expected to confirm that course materials developed by others are "fair use" or that appropriate permission(s) to use or link to the materials have been acquired.

For specific questions and additional information on copyright, contact the appropriate librarian at the Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria library.