1. The freedom traditionally accorded members of the university community carries with it the obligation of self-discipline. Indeed, maintenance of the highest ethical standards in the conduct of research and all other scholarly activity is a necessary condition for the proper functioning of the university. Dishonesty tarnishes the cause of truth, damages or destroys collegial relationships, and may cause irreparable harm to the relationship between the university and the public.
2. The increased competitiveness of modern university life may place additional stress on the scholar. Work carried out in collaboration, in particular, imposes a special responsibility upon the investigators. Here reseach misconduct directly affects the reputation of co-workers, as well as that of the perpetrator. For this reason, each investigator must share in the assurance that data have been honestly gathered and reported and that appropriate credit is given for each individual's contributions. While overall responsibility for the integrity of collaborative work always rests with a principal investigator, this statement of ethical standards in the conduct of research applies to all members of the university community who may be involved with a research project, whether or not supported by internal or external funds.
3. All scholars share the obligation to maintain the highest standard of conduct in their profession and to disclose what they perceive in good faith to be misconduct in research, secure in the knowledge that the university respects the honest exercise of their judgment. Such allegations must be made with caution, however, and the rights of the individual to a fair and careful hearing strenuously protected.
4. The scope of this policy does not cover sexual harassment [see Wright Way Policy 4001.21, "Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment" at http://www.wright.edu/wrightway/4001.html]; misappropriation of funds [see the Ohio Revised Code, Section 2921.41 at http://orc.avv.com/title-29/sec-2921/sec-2921.41.htm]; failure to comply with university policies governing the protection of human subjects and the welfare of laboratory animals [see Wright State University Policies and Procedures for Human Subjects and Animal Subjects at http://www.wright.edu/rsp/subjects.html]; or, failure to comply with other conditions or guidelines established by an external sponsor or by the university. These problems should be referred to appropriate administrators or compliance committee chairs.

1. Investigator is defined as any member of the university community who participates in a research or other scholarly endeavor intended to create, apply, or disseminate new knowledge. These members include faculty, staff, and students.
2. Principal investigator is defined as an investigator who has overall responsibility for the conduct of a research or other scholarly endeavor including but not limited to supervision and training of other participating investigators.
3. Research misconduct or misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices that seriously deviate from those commonly accepted within the scientific community or other communities of scholars for proposing, conducting, reviewing, or reporting research or other scholarly activity. Research misconduct does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretations or judgments. For the purpose of this policy, misconduct also includes retaliation of any kind against a person who reported or provided information about suspected or alleged misconduct and who has not acted in bad faith.

It is the policy of Wright State University that the highest ethical standards in the conduct of research be maintained. Misconduct in research as defined in this policy shall be considered a major breach of the contract between the faculty, staff member, or student and the university. The goals of this statement relating to ethics in the conduct of research are to maintain the highest standards and to establish institutional policies that provide a conspicuous and understandable mechanism for dealing with instances of alleged misconduct.

1. Each investigator is responsible for the highest standards of ethical conduct in the pursuit of all research and other scholarly activities.
2. Each principal investigator is responsible for the overall conduct of research projects under his/her supervision. Supervision includes assuring the highest ethical standards in the conduct of the research and dissemination of research results, as well as detecting irregular practices in research procedures, introducing remedial measures in the case of innocent mistakes, and investigating and eliminating willful misconduct.
3. Research investigators are responsible to a principal investigator if involved in a multi-investigator project. Principal investigators are responsible to department chairs and/or program directors who in turn are responsible to the appropriate dean(s). The chain of responsibility continues through the chief research officer, the chief academic officer, and the president of the university.
4. Each principal investigator is responsible for the procedures used to gather, record, and retain research data and similar products of other scholarly activities according to scientific and/or professional standards of discipline.
5. Each principal investigator is responsible for the dissemination and reporting of research results including ethical attribution of authorship. Thus, the contributions of all investigators should be appropriately recognized, and all co-authors must accept responsibility for their personal contributions to the work being reported.