US Department of Health and Human Services
SUMMARY ✎
The US Office of Research Integrity (ORI) oversees and directs Public Health Service research integrity activities on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with the exception of the regulatory research integrity activities of the Food and Drug Administration.
The ORI website offers a wealth of resources on research misconduct and responsible conduct of research (RCR), as well as training programs, policies and regulations, and an assurance program. These resources include both in-house products (such as interactive videos) and products developed by US universities, departments and institutions.
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Resources are classified according to the following topics:
- research misconduct: case summaries, extensive guidelines on how to handle misconduct, and forensic tools for examining and detecting plagiarism
- responsible conduct of research: general and specific resources on human/animal research, publication and authorship, mentorship, data management, collaborative science, peer review and conflicts of interest
- programs: training and research programs on research integrity
- policies and regulations: US documents from the US government, the ORI and other institutions
- assurance program: monitors institutional compliance with research misconduct policies
Among the many resources, users can find guidelines, bibliographic support and practical tools, such as forensic plagiarism-detection tools and The Lab (http://ori.hhs.gov/THELAB): an interactive training video available in English, Spanish and Chinese in which users adopt roles and make decisions about integrity in research that can have long-term consequences.
This is the official website of a US agency and is, thus, very US related. European actors should adapt the resources to their own context.
This is a very comprehensive portal devoted to science integrity and ethics. It provides researchers and research managers with extensive information for training; avoiding and detecting research misconduct; and performing research in a responsible manner.
The multimedia resources are varied, and some materials can be adapted for the EU, at least to raise awareness and invite reflection. For example, the interactive videos could be thought-provoking educational tools.
The portal is an interesting national example that could and should be exported to European countries—such as to the UK Research Integrity Office—to promote responsible conduct in research and prevent research misconduct.