E09 - Research Misconduct and Institutional Leadership

Most institutions align their research misconduct policies with federal regulations and guidelines set by agencies such as the Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (HHS ORI), NSF, and other federal entities. These federal regulations and guidelines include specific definitions of research misconduct, and who is responsible for reviewing such allegations. In 2024, HHS ORI released the much-anticipated revised research misconduct regulations (42 CFR Part 93) which formalized the role of the Deciding Official (DO). The goal of this change was to “clearly identify the responsibilities of the Institutional Deciding Official at the conclusion of an investigation and to respond to commenters generally requesting additional clarity.” Changes in federal requirements such as this highlight the importance for IOs to understand their role in the research misconduct process as well as know when allegations fall outside of this process.