Definitions

Universal Research Compliance Definitions

As used in Policy No. 6110, 6120, 6130, 61xx and related University procedures, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section:

Administrative Host means the designated University employee in a formal supervisory position in relation to the Visiting Scholar Host (typically Department Chairs).

Allegation. This term is a disclosure of possible research misconduct through any means of communication and brought directly to the attention of an institutional or HHS official.

Appointment means formal title and role given to an individual for a set or indefinite period of time.

Assessment means a consideration of whether an allegation of research misconduct appears to fall within the definition of research misconduct; appears to involve PHS-supported biomedical or behavioral research, biomedical or behavioral research training, or activities related to that research or research training; and is sufficiently credible and specific so that potential evidence of research misconduct may be identified. The assessment only involves the review of readily accessible information relevant to the allegation.

Certification means a process through which an Investigator submits a formal declaration that either (i) they (or close family members) have no significant financial interests (SFCI) related to the research they are or will be conducting or (ii) the Investigator (or close family members) does have an SFCI reasonably related to their research and this SFCI will be disclosed to the University.

Certification is managed through an online utility (Cayuse) integrated with the Research and Sponsored Programs application and post-award processes: https://www.wright.edu/research/cayuse.

Close Family Member means spouse, domestic partner, parents, siblings, children or parents.

Complainant means an individual who in Good-Faith makes an allegation of research misconduct.

Conflicts of Commitment (CoC) means relationships, responsibilities or obligations that place or appear to place competing demands on an Investigator’s time, resources, loyalties or legal rights.

Deemed Export refers to the sharing or release of controlled technology or source code to a foreign person within the United States

Disclosure means submitting information about an SFCI to the University using established procedures for evaluation and Management Plan development.

Engagement means when the participation of an investigator or institution is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research or proposed for such funding. Such activities include but are not limited to: influencing study design, obtaining subject consent, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting of results.

Ethics Oversight Committee means a committee at the University formed to review the aspects of research related to the responsible conduct of research (e.g. Institutional Review for Human Subjects Protection, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Outside Interests Committee).

Evidence means anything offered or obtained during a research misconduct proceeding that tends to prove or disprove the existence of an alleged fact. Evidence includes documents, whether in hard copy or electronic form, information, tangible items, and testimony.

External Personnel means any Investigator working on a project who is not (i) employed by the University, or (ii) a student of the University, or (iii) formally appointed as a University affiliate.

Fabrication means making up data or results and recording or reporting them.

Falsification means manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.

Financial Interest means anything of monetary value or potential monetary value, foreign or domestic, held by the Investigator or a close member of the Investigator’s family (spouse, domestic partner, children, parents or siblings), whether or not the value is readily ascertainable, held or received.

Foreign Countries of Concern means:

countries designated under U.S. laws (e.g. CHIPS Act) related to research security such as: China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela; or
countries of “particular” concern to include (2026): Burma (Myanmar), Chin, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan due to religious persecution practices.

Fundamental Research means research in science, engineering, or mathematics, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the research community, and for which the researchers have not accepted restrictions for proprietary or national security reasons. It is distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilizations, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary and/or specific national security reasons. Normally, the results of "fundamental research" are published in scientific literature, thus making it publicly available. Research which is intended for publication, whether it is ever accepted by scientific journals or not, is considered to be "fundamental research."

Good-Faith as applied to a complainant or witness means having a reasonable belief in the truth of one’s allegation or testimony, based on the information known to the complainant or witness at the time. An allegation or cooperation with a research misconduct proceeding is not in Good-Faith if made with knowledge of or reckless disregard for information that would negate the allegation or testimony. (b) Good-Faith as applied to an institutional or committee member means cooperating with the research misconduct proceeding by impartially carrying out the duties assigned for the purpose of helping an institution meet its responsibilities. An institutional or committee member does not act in Good-Faith if their acts or omissions during the research misconduct proceedings are dishonest or inﬂuenced by personal, professional, or ﬁnancial conﬂicts of interest with those involved in the research misconduct proceeding.

Host means a University employee responsible for facilitating and managing a visit by a Visiting Scholar in accordance with the requirements of the Policy and procedures. University undergraduate students, graduate students, graduate assistants, and postdoctoral scholars/fellows/researchers are not eligible to serve as a Host for purposes of this policy. The chair or supervisor of the host must approve all requests for Tier 2 through 5 Visiting Scholars.

Hosting Unit means the academic administrative structure, division, or office where the host is fulfilling their primary role at WSU.

Human Subject means a living individual about whom an Investigator: 1) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or 2) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens.

Inquiry means preliminary information-gathering and preliminary fact-finding that meets the criteria and follows the procedures of § 93.307 through § 93.309.

Institutional Deciding Official means the institutional official who makes final determinations on allegations of research misconduct and any institutional actions. The same individual cannot serve as the Institutional Deciding Official and the Research Integrity Officer.

Institutional Responsibilities means an Investigator’s professional responsibilities on behalf of the University including research, consultation, teaching, professional practice, University committee memberships, and service.

Institutional Conflicts occur whenever the financial interests of the University, or of a University official acting within his or her authority on behalf of the University, might affect, or reasonably appear to affect, University processes for the conduct, review, or oversight of research. If institutional conflicts of interest are identified via the disclosure process described below, they will normally be addressed in a manner that is consistent with this Program.

Institutional Official (IO) is the individual designated by the Chief Executive Officer (President) who is legally authorized to act for the institution and on behalf of the institution. Included in that authority is the commitment to federal and state regulators that the appropriate infrastructure is in place at Wright State to safeguard the research enterprise. The IO approves and appoints administrative staff and committee members and ensures the necessary resources are available to fulfill regulatory and institutional policy requirements.

The institutional record comprises: (a) The records that the institution compiled or generated during the research misconduct proceeding, except records the institution did not consider or rely on. These records include but are not limited to (1) documentation of the assessment as required by § 93.306(c); (2) if an inquiry is conducted, the inquiry report and all records (other than drafts of the report) considered or relied on during the inquiry, including, but not limited to, research records and the transcripts of any transcribed interviews conducted during the inquiry, information the respondent provided to the institution, and the documentation of any decision not to investigate as required by § 93.309(c); (3) if an investigation is conducted, the investigation report and all records (other than drafts of the report) considered or relied on during the investigation, including, but not limited to, research records, the transcripts of each interview conducted pursuant to § 93.310(g), and information the respondent provided to the institution; (4) decision(s) by the Institutional Deciding Official, such as the written decision from the Institutional Deciding Official under § 93.314; (5) the complete record of any institutional appeal consistent with § 93.315; (b) a single index listing all the research records and evidence that the institution compiled during the research misconduct proceeding, except records the institution did not consider or rely on; and (c) a general description of the records that were sequestered but not considered or relied on.

Investigation means the formal development of a factual record and the examination of that record that meets the criteria and follows the procedures of §§ 93.310 through 93.317.

Investigator means any person, internal or external to the University, who is:

developing proposals for funding; or
involved with the design, conduct, or reporting of research; or
the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI); and
associated with research administered by or affiliated with the University.

Invitation Packet means a set of forms and documents to provide the University with information about the purpose of the Visit or interaction and qualifications of the Visitor.

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program (see below)

Management means to act to eliminate or reduce to an acceptable level real or perceived perceptions of bias in the design, conduct or reporting of research.

Management Plan means a documented, University-approved plan developed to describe and require research practices that eliminate or reduce real or perceived Investigator conflicts.

Need to Know means access to confidential information by persons only to the extent required to evaluate and manage potential conflicts to meet University, and research sponsor, or regulatory, or legal requirements, typically to evaluate or manage potential conflicts. The “Need to Know” of an individual or entity is determined by the delegated reviewing official in consultation with the General Counsel’s Office and/or the Vice President for Compliance and Risk Management.

Non-Public area means a location that requires a key, pass-code, or a WSU ID card to access the space during normal business hours (e.g. laboratories and offices).

Outside Interest Committee (OIC) is an ad hoc committee that works with Investigators and the OVPR to resolve potential or apparent financial conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment by implementing reasonable controls as needed. Members are appointed to the OIC by the VPR or Provost based on expertise and institutional need given the nature of the individual case.

Plagiarism means the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words, without giving appropriate credit. (a) Plagiarism includes the unattributed verbatim or nearly verbatim copying of sentences and paragraphs from another’s work that materially misleads the reader regarding the contributions of the author. It does not include the limited use of identical or nearly identical phrases that describe a commonly used methodology. (b) Plagiarism does not include self-plagiarism or authorship or credit disputes, including disputes among former collaborators who participated jointly in the development or conduct of a research project. Self-plagiarism and authorship disputes do not meet the definition of research misconduct.

Procedures when referenced in a Policy means the Procedures and Guidance provided in the associated WSU web pages linked in the Policy.

Public area means a location that does not require a key or a WSU ID card to access the space during normal business hours.

Recklessly means to propose, perform, or review research, or report research results, with indifference to a known risk of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.

Related Financial Interest means an interest that is reasonably related to the research or other institutional responsibilities of an Investigator or a Close Family Member.

Research means a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. It includes basic and applied research and product development.

The Research Integrity Officer (RIO) refers to the institutional official responsible for administering the institution’s written policies and procedures for addressing allegations of research misconduct in compliance with 42 CFR Part 93.37

Research Misconduct means fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, conducting, or reporting research. Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.

Research Misconduct Proceeding means any actions related to alleged research misconduct taken under 42 CFR Part 93, including allegation assessments, inquiries, investigations, ORI oversight reviews, and appeals under subpart E of 42 CFR Part 93.39.

Research Record means the record of data or results that embody the facts resulting from scientific inquiry. Data or results may be in physical or electronic form. Examples of items, materials, or information that may be considered part of the research record include, but are not limited to, research proposals, raw data, processed data, clinical research records, laboratory records, study records, laboratory notebooks, progress reports, manuscripts, abstracts, theses, records of oral presentations, online content, lab meeting reports, and journal articles.

Research (or Human) Subject is a living individual about whom an Investigator conducting research: i) obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or ii) obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens.

Respondent means the individual against whom an allegation of research misconduct is directed or who is the subject of a research misconduct proceeding

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) refers to the practice of scientific investigation in a way that promotes honesty, accuracy, efficiency, and objectivity. RCR encompasses a set of ethical and professional standards that researchers are expected to follow throughout the research process. It ensures that research is conducted in a way that promotes trust, accountability, and respect for all participants and the broader community.

Significant Conflicts of Commitment (SCC) means when an Investigator is working on one or more funded projects; preparing to submit a request for a new project; serving as a peer reviewer; sitting on advisory boards; or working as a paid consultant, officer, or employee in a private company or more than one funding source is used to support the research activities and the activity could interfere with or affect research.

Significant Financial Interest (SFI) means when the character of the interest exceeds thresholds specified by a funding entity or is of a nature otherwise described in sponsor policies and regulations and can reasonably be related to institutional responsibilities.

Significant Financial Conflict of Interest (SFCI) means when an SFI could reasonably be perceived to be a conflict that could impact the conduct of research.

Threshold means the minimum value of an interest type that qualifies the interest as a Significant Financial Interest. Some interest types have no minimum threshold thus all must be disclosed.

Unit Level Policies and Guidance means methods and procedures maintained at the unit level to address individual funder and oversight program requirements.

University means all Wright State University campuses and properties to include locations identified in conjunction with projects and programs subject to provisions in grants and contracts to or regulatory requirements of Wright State University.

U.S. Persons: U.S. Persons are:

U.S. citizens; or
Persons who have been granted residency through the issuance of a permanent residence card (i.e. Green Card) or have been granted status as a protected person under 8 U.S.C. 1324 b(a)(3), e.g. political refugees, etc.

Visiting Scholars means persons whether domestic or international who are on University property for academic purposes or associated with University contracts or grants where academic activities are located off-campus. Visiting Scholar status includes persons described as Visiting Faculty, Visiting Researchers, Visiting Scientists, or Volunteers. Unless explicitly contracted as employees, Visiting Scholars shall not be construed to be University employees. Accordingly, Visiting Scholars are not entitled to financial support or reimbursement.

Visitors are persons described under the definitions of Visiting Scholar or Volunteer for this Policy.

Visitor Approval Tiers are classifications of Visitors determined by the nature of the Visitor, their role at the University, and their access to facilities.

Volunteer means a person who gives his services without any express or implied promise of remuneration nor to any compensation for injuries sustained in performing what he has undertaken. Note: Visa holders may not volunteer to perform a function for which a person would otherwise be paid and may not volunteer services in their professional field, unless they have work authorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Extended Definitions

Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Definition
(As defined by Section 10638(4) of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022)

“A malign foreign talent recruitment program is:

(A) any program, position, or activity that includes compensation in the form of cash, in-kind compensation, including research funding, promised future compensation, complimentary foreign travel, things of non de minimis value, honorific titles, career advancement opportunities, or other types of remuneration or consideration directly provided by a foreign country at any level (national, provincial, or local) or their designee, or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country, whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country, to the targeted individual, whether directly or indirectly stated in the arrangement, contract, or other documentation at issue, in exchange for the individual—

(i) engaging in the unauthorized transfer of intellectual property, materials, data products, or other nonpublic information owned by a United States entity or developed with a Federal research and development award to the government of a foreign country or an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country regardless of whether that government or entity provided support for the development of the intellectual property, materials, or data products;
(ii) being required to recruit trainees or researchers to enroll in such program, position, or activity;
(iii) establishing a laboratory or company, accepting a faculty position, or undertaking any other employment or appointment in a foreign country or with an entity based in, funded by, or affiliated with a foreign country if such activities are in violation of the standard terms and conditions of a Federal research and development award;
(iv) being unable to terminate the foreign talent recruitment program contract or agreement except in extraordinary circumstances;
(v) through funding or effort related to the foreign talent recruitment program, being limited in the capacity to carry out a research and development award or required to engage in work that would result in substantial overlap or duplication with a Federal research and development award;
(vi) being required to apply for and successfully receive funding from the sponsoring foreign government's funding agencies with the sponsoring foreign organization as the recipient;
(vii) being required to omit acknowledgment of the recipient institution with which the individual is affiliated, or the Federal research agency sponsoring the research and development award, contrary to the institutional policies or standard terms and conditions of the Federal research and development award;
(viii) being required to not disclose to the Federal research agency or employing institution the participation of such individual in such program, position, or activity; or
(ix) having a conflict of interest or conflict of commitment contrary to the standard terms and conditions of the Federal research and development award; and

(B) a program that is sponsored by—

i) a foreign country of concern or an entity based in a foreign country of concern, whether or not directly sponsored by the foreign country of concern;
ii) an academic institution on the list developed under section 1286(c)(8) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232); or
iii) a foreign talent recruitment program on the list developed under section 1286(c)(9) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 4001 note; Public Law 115-232).”