The 2024 Public Health Service (PHS) Policies on Research Misconduct involving PHS-funded research were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) on...more
Report on Research Compliance 21, no. 9 (September, 2024) - How many types of falsehoods might sully applications for research funds and the studies they support? Unfortunately, the most recent semiannual report to...more
Report on Research Compliance 21, no. 9 (September, 2024) - Based on their review of public data on ClinicalTrials.gov, a bipartisan quartet of U.S. representatives has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to...more
The Busywork of Preparing for College - Whether it’s your first, middle, or last child, sending a child off to college remains difficult for parents. They don’t call it “empty nest syndrome” for nothing. Let’s face it,...more
Students found responsible for Title IX violations face a wide array of penalties, ranging in severity depending upon the nature of the sexual misconduct. Because sanctions for Title IX violations can follow a student...more
The world is blessed and cursed by nuance. Most issues are complicated, and truly understanding them requires expertise, depth of insight, familiarity, and an appreciation for how nuances impact the issue and its context....more
This is the fifth in our 2024 Year in Preview series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the coming year. We will be posting further installments in the series throughout the next several...more
The emergence of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools has triggered widespread debates about the propriety of their use, especially in education circles, where academic integrity and confidentiality...more
Expulsion and dismissal are the most severe sanctions an academic institution can impose. Both labels connote student separation from the school. Whenever a student is facing expulsion or dismissal, the student should enlist...more
One university lost 14 awards; another, four. An investigator was suspended governmentwide. A public institution paid back more than $850,000, while two others returned nearly a million dollars....more
Report on Research Compliance Volume 20, Number 5. April 27, 2023 - - NIH should conduct “site visits to foreign facilities that perform NIH-funded animal research” or require third-party verification to offer “reasonable...more
Do you know what research misconduct is, and would you report it if you suspected it? These deceptively simple questions reflect two pillars of research integrity: recognizing fabrication, falsification and plagiarism...more
School district practices on referrals to local law enforcement for student misconduct in schools are facing intense scrutiny in the wake of the ProPublica investigation reported these past weeks in the Chicago Tribune. ...more
Institutions of Higher Education need to consider new approaches to Title IX compliance. We recommend proactive, periodic, non-incident related, and targeted operational compliance audits to get in front of Title IX issues...more
Report on Research Compliance 17, no. 8 (August 2020) - Despite data falsifications that were severe enough to require four retractions or corrections and which led to his demotion at a university and a redo of...more
Report on Research Compliance 17, no. 6 (June 2020) - With the recent appointment of an HHS leader as its permanent director and a former Johns Hopkins misconduct official to another key post, the HHS Office of Research...more
Report on Research Compliance 17, no. 5 (May 2020) - Cybercriminals are “sending malicious phishing emails that appear to be from trusted federal agencies,” such as HHS, in order to “steal sensitive data,” warned Michael...more
Being accused of academic misconduct is frightening and can potentially derail higher education schooling, leave a student with debt, and no college degree. There are steps that students may take that can improve their...more
As we reported, the Department of Education announced earlier this month that it would begin implementing its “borrower defense” final rule which was issued in November 2016 by providing discharges of federal student loans...more
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education issued proposed regulations that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) would use to investigate complaints against schools under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX...more
Draft Guidance on Food Recalls Issued - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance on the release of retailer information during the food-recall process. The guidance indicates when the agency...more
A panel of three professors posing inartfully phrased questions of a witness under oath, with members of the administration present, may not be the best way to gather relevant facts. Q: How do institutions of higher...more
Many private colleges and universities have faculty handbooks and/or collective bargaining agreements that, among other things, establish internal disciplinary procedures and make promises to faculty about academic freedom....more
The California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) has filed a complaint in D.C. federal district court against the Dept. of Education and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to overturn the “borrower defense”...more
An ongoing controversy regarding fraud and academic dishonesty among student-athletes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”) has brought to the forefront an important question: Who is responsible for...more