What Is Research Misconduct?

Research misconduct, as defined by the US Office of Research Integrity, is fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. It does not include honest error or differences of opinion. Definitions in other countries and institutions can be broader.

The core definitions

• Fabrication: making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
• Falsification: manipulating research materials, equipment or processes, or changing or omitting data or results so that the research is not accurately represented.
• Plagiarism: appropriating another person's ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit.

Related questionable practices

Practices that may not meet a formal definition but harm research quality include selective reporting of outcomes, inappropriate authorship, duplicate publication, salami slicing, undisclosed conflicts of interest, p-hacking and inadequate record keeping. Many institutions and journals treat serious cases as misconduct.

How concerns are handled

Concerns are usually raised with an institution's research integrity office, a journal editor (following COPE guidance) or a funder. Processes involve confidential assessment, investigation and, if confirmed, sanctions such as retraction, correction, notification of funders and employment consequences.

Prevention

Keep complete records, store raw data securely, follow protocols, state deviations, share data where appropriate, agree authorship early and seek advice if uncertain.

Illustrative example

Invented for teaching. A student notices that a lab member's figure appears to use the same image for two conditions. Instead of confronting the person publicly, she raises the concern confidentially with a senior mentor or the research integrity office, which has procedures for assessing it.

Common pitfalls

• Treating honest mistakes as misconduct, or minor shortcuts as harmless.
• Keeping silent about a serious concern.

Key takeaways

• Fabrication, falsification and plagiarism are the core forms of misconduct.
• Keep records, be transparent and use proper channels for concerns.

This page is general educational information about research methods. It is not medical, legal or regulatory advice; follow your institution's ethics board and your target journal's instructions.