Virtually all university policies include the following Fabrication-Falsifcation-Plagiarism Standard that was adopted in 2000 by the Office of Science and Technology:
Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them,
Falsification is 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.
Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.
These Federal agencies subscribe to this definition of research misconduct: NSF, NIH, USDA. The American Physical Society offers additional perspectives.
A university policy that addresses research misconduct may very well include more than just the “core” FFP standard in its list of research-related prohibitions. What Other Schools Do
References
What is Ethics in Research and Why is It Important?
Excellent overview with many links to additional content.
Fostering Integrity in Research (National Academies)
Among other things, this extremely comprehensive 2017 report discusses the various research misconduct definitions that have been implemented over the years by funding agencies and universities.
More on Falsification and Fabrication:
Digital Images and Misconduct
The Temptation of Image Manipulation
The Duke-NIH Case
More on Plagiarism:
Oxford University Policy
A Fresh Look at Self-Plagiarism (AAAS)
Self-Plagiarism: How to Define It and Why You Should Avoid It
Relevant Cornell Offices
Office of Research Integrity and Assurance
Research Policies and Guidelines (Vice Provost for Research Office)
The CISER Research Reproducibility (R-Squared) Service
