Research Integrity

With the aim of strengthening and protecting the integrity of research at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, the Dean’s Office of Graduate Studies and Research has developed this general compliance portal to publish the standards and policies that must be followed to encourage responsible conduct in research.

All research, whether subsidized by external or institutional funds, is subject to different regulations—depending on the nature of the research. This portal contains laws, regulations and institutional policies that regulate research with human beings, animals, biological agents, radioactive materials, and chemical agents. Additionally, this portal provides important information about what constitutes responsible conduct in research and how institutional certifications work at the Campus.

Anyone involved in any kind of research is responsible for being thoroughly aware of all applicable norms and regulations in order to comply with them.

Conducting research with the highest sense of integrity applies both to researchers and to the institutions where they work. For researchers, integrity is an aspect of moral character and experience. For institutions, it is a matter of creating an environment that promotes responsible conduct, thus supporting the standard of excellence, trustworthiness, and legality that are established in institutional practices.

For the researcher, integrity in research epitomizes, above all, the commitment to intellectual honesty and responsibility for their own actions, as well as the commitment to the set of practices that characterize responsible conduct in research. These practices include:

  • Intellectual honesty in the proposal, conduct and publication of research
  • Accuracy in the presentation of research proposal contributions and publications
  • Justice during the peer evaluation process
  • Exhibit a spirit of collaboration in scientific interactions, including communicating and sharing resources
  • Transparency in conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest
  • Protection of human subjects in the conduct of research
  • Humane treatment of animals in the conduct of research
  • Adherence to mutual responsibilities between researchers and their research teams

Excerpted from the book: Board on Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine. (2002) Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating an Environment That Promotes Responsible Conduct (pp 35-35). Washington, D.C.: The National Academy Press.

To read the book click here.

The research integrity project that the Dean’s Office of Graduate Studies has designed comprises two major areas:

  • First is educating the university community about responsible conduct in research (according to the National Science Foundation, specifically through the NSF-EESE project and other federal, state and institutional regulations).

 

  • Second is promoting responsible conduct in research through compliance with all rules governing the investigation. As part of ensuring compliance, it is also DEGI’s mission to provide guidance to researchers on the expectations of proposals submitted for review by the various committees.

Research misconduct refers to the fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in research proposals, while conducting or revising the research or during the process of reporting research results.

  1. Fabrication means making up data or results during the conduct of research and when publishing the results.
  2. Falsification means manipulating research materials, equipment or processes, or omitting data or results that cause the research to not be accurately presented.
  3. Plagiarism means the use of another person’s ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit.
  4. Misconduct in research does not include involuntary errors or differences of opinions.

To see these definitions in more detail, you can access the National Science Foundation’s Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_1/aag091print.pdf

The Office of Research Integrity (ORI)—affiliated to the Public Heal Service (PHS) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services—is the federal agency in charge of overseeing institutional investigations regarding research misconduct and promoting responsible research conduct through education, prevention, and policies and regulations.

The PHS regulation on research misconduct can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations 42 CFR Parts 50 and 93 – Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct; Final Rule.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) regulation can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations 45 CFR PART 689 – Research Misconduct.

The NSF Office of Inspector General has the authority and the responsibility, among others, of preventing, detecting, and handling misconduct in scientific research.

Other federal agencies also have their own regulations.

Research Compliance Committees – The different research compliance committees play an essential role, encouraging compliance in the research projects taking place at a campus level.

An institutional assurance is a written commitment in which a research institution commits itself to complying with the policies and requirements imposed by that agency.

Under the provisions protecting human subjects in research, the Code of Federal Regulations (45 CFR 46.103) defines what an institutional assurance is. Each assurance will contain different elements, depending on what is required by the regulatory agency.

Responsibilities acquired by an institutional assurance exist for both the institution and the researchers. The different agencies require, for example, that the institution have a variety of written, published and implemented policies (such as a conflict of interest policy, a non-discrimination policy, etc.). In addition, the agencies require the institution to have different committees that review research proposals on Campus and that investigators be held accountable for complying with all the requirements imposed by said committees. Researchers are also responsible for complying with all institutional policies when conducting their research.

The University of Puerto Rico currently has several institutional assurances required by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). Below are two tables listing institutional policies that meet NSF and NIH requirements.

Institutional Assurances Tables

For more information on the assurances required by the National Institute of Health (NIH), click the following link:
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/nihgps.pdf

For more information on the assurances required by the National Science Foundation (NSF), click the following link: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_29/nsf0929.pdf

For more information on the assurances required by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) click the following link:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/sampledoc/assur.htm

For more information about the assurances required by the Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP), click the following link (online training):
http://ohrp-ed.od.nih.gov/CBTs/Assurance/login.asp

The creative work of faculty members, non-teaching staff and students must be the object of intellectual protection for their benefit and the benefit of the institution and the community.

In order to protect, recognize and disclose the intellectual property rights and responsibilities of the members of the university community and the University itself, an Institutional Copyright Policy is hereby established in accordance with the mission of the University of Puerto Rico. This policy is intended to provide the necessary support and guidance for the protection of the rights of faculty, non-teaching staff and students.

The Institutional Copyright Policy fulfills the following objectives:

  1. To serve the public interest by providing a procedure to make the protected intellectual work that is the product of university work accessible to the public;
  2. To promote research and the development of ideas, as well as the publication of research and other forms of intellectual expression through proper guidance and advice on how to protect and register copyrights and the financial benefit that may come from said protection and registration;
  3. To define the institutional interpretation on the applicability of the current jurisprudence and regulations—both in the jurisdictional scope of the United States and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico—on the intellectual product subject to protection under Copyrights; and
  4. To protect the interests of the University, and inform its employees and students on how to protect their author’s rights.

Under federal Copyright Law, the following are registrable and subject to protection:

  • Literary works;
  • Musical works, including any accompanying words;
  • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
  • Pantomimes and choreographic works;
  • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
  • Sound recordings; and
  • Architectural works

The following may be registered under Puerto Rico law:

  • Books, journal articles, texts, bibliographies, theses;
  • Graphic works of all genres;
  • Photographs, films and videos;
  • Musical compositions;
  • Theatrical and film scripts;
  • Literary works;
  • Sculptures;
  • Architectural designs;
  • Source codes for computer programs;
  • Manuscripts and unpublished works by personal presentation by the author

 

Rector’s Office Circular No. 35 (2006-2007) – Orientación sobre la protección de las obras de autor.

Board of Governors Certification No. 102 (2022-2023)

The University of Puerto Rico seeks to protect and encourage the filing of patentable and marketable inventions in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Patent Laws, including the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, as amended. This policy does not apply to intellectual property rights related to copyrighted material.

The Institutional Policy on Patents, Inventions and their Commercialization fulfills the following objectives:

  • To serve the public interest by providing a procedure to make the product of university research accessible to the public through invention disclosures, licensing and commercialization of inventions;
  • To encourage research and the development of ideas and inventions by assisting inventors in obtaining patents and participating in financial benefits that may come from the commercialization of patents, and by establishing a system to encourage research;
  • To protect the interests of the University, its employees and students regarding patentable inventions developed through the University; and
  • To provide services to the community, the private sector and other entities through the dissemination of information on the policy and procedures, as well as educating, training, evaluating and assisting in patenting, licensing and commercialization. All this will be done through a signed agreement between the parties and the University will charge for its services. The person or entity designated by the President shall be responsible for providing these services, as well as establishing the rates.

Extract from Board of Trustees Certification No. 132 (2002-2003) – Nueva política institucional sobre patentes, invenciones y su comercialización

The Intellectual Property Committee offers orientation services to the university community on the Institutional Copyright Policy Council of Higher EducationCertification No.93-140 [1993] and the intellectual property laws, including the protection and registration of works. This committee is affiliated to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations
Rector’s Office Circular No. 10 (2006-2007) – Comité de Propiedad Intelectual
Rector’s Office Circular No. 14 (2003-2004) – Comité de Propiedad Intelectual

Online educational resources:

Intellectual property and patents: Puerto Rico

Intellectual Property and patents: Federal Laws and Regulations

Intellectual Property and Patents: Offices and Institutions

Intellectual Property and Patents: International

Externally Funded Research
  • The University of Puerto Rico institutional policy on conflicts of interest and the procedure for their disclosure are set forth in Certification No. 63 (2007-08) titled “Policy on Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure of Financial Interest in Research” (Política sobre Conflictos de Interés y Divulgación de Interés Financiero en la Investigación). Researchers must disclose if they or their immediate family have a direct or indirect financial conflict which might directly and significantly affect the design, conduct or reporting of research to funding agencies that require it, especially the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Public Health Service (PHS).

Research Funded by the Institutional Research Fund (FIPI)

  • As part of the FIPI proposal evaluation process, evaluators are required to provide a document certifying that they do not have a conflict of interest before beginning the review of a proposal. There is a conflict of interest if one or more of the following conditions exist:
    • If the evaluator is principal investigator (PI) or the applicant’s co-principal investigator (Co-PI)
    • If the evaluator is or was thesis or dissertation advisor to the PI or Co-PI
    • If the evaluator is or was a supervisor at the time of the applicant’s postdoctoral training
    • If the evaluator is an advisor to the PI or Co-PI
    • If the evaluator has collaborated with the PI or Co-PI in the last 5 years
    • If the evaluator is related to the PI or Co-PI
    • If the evaluator is a shareholder in a company that participates in the proposal
    • If the evaluator may, somehow, win or lose money if the proposal is approved or denied
    • If the evaluator is the director (or coordinator) of the department, program or school the PI or Oo-PI attends

Research with Human Subjects

  • Federal regulation 45 CFR 46 provides the guidelines for the revision and approval of research involving human being as study subjects. The Institutional Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research (CIPSHI) is the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Río Piedras Campus. Section 107 (e) of 45 CFR 46 states that no member of an IRB may participate in the initial or continuous reviews of research if there is a conflict of interest. In this case, the member may only participate in the discussion to answer other member’s questions. CIPSHI members are inhibited from participating in protocol reviews in which they have a conflict of interest.
    Researchers must disclose any relationship between them and CIPSHI members and the nature of said relationship. In addition, they have to disclose any current or past relationship with potential participants and with the institution in which they will conduct the research. CIPSHI takes this information into consideration when evaluating the risks of a research and requires researchers to disclose any existing relationships to potential participants during the consent-taking process.

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