Ryerson University Research Integrity Guidelines
Ryerson University is dedicated to the highest standards of research integrity. As set out in Policy #118 – Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity (SRC) Integrity Policy, it is expected that all members of the University (including faculty, staff and students, and those who are not members of the University but who are conducting research on University premises or using University resources) will observe the highest standards in the conduct of their research.
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Intellectual freedom and honesty are essential to the sharing and development of knowledge. In order to demonstrate Ryerson’s adherence to these fundamental values, all members of the community must exhibit integrity in their teaching, learning, research, evaluation and personal behavior.
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Individuals are personally responsible for the intellectual and ethical quality of their work and must ensure that their research meets University standards and the standards of those entities sponsoring any component of the research. They are responsible for knowing what constitutes appropriate SRC conduct.
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Ryerson’s Policy #118 contains information including what constitutes misconduct, what constitutes a research conflict of interest, the duty to report misconduct and conflicts of interest, the process and procedures for reporting, and outlines of the processes and timelines for dealing with allegations.
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Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research
Promoting Research Integrity
Researchers shall strive to follow the best research practices honestly, accountably, openly and fairly in the search for and in the dissemination of knowledge. In addition, researchers shall follow the requirements of applicable institutional policies and professional or disciplinary standards and shall comply with applicable laws and regulations. At a minimum, researchers are responsible for the following:
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Rigour: Scholarly and scientific rigour in proposing and performing research; in recording, analyzing, and interpreting data; and in reporting and publishing data and findings.
Record keeping: Keeping complete and accurate records of data, methodologies and findings, including graphs and images, in accordance with the applicable funding agreement, institutional policies, laws, regulations, and professional or disciplinary standards in a manner that will allow verification or replication of the work by others.
Accurate referencing: Referencing and, where applicable, obtaining permission for the use of all published and unpublished work, including theories, concepts, data, source material, methodologies, findings, graphs and images.
Authorship: Including as authors, with their consent, all those and only those who have made a substantial contribution to, and who accept responsibility for, the contents of the publication or document. The substantial contribution may be conceptual or material.
Acknowledgement: Acknowledging appropriately all those and only those who have contributed to research, including funders and sponsors.
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Conflict of interest management: Appropriately identifying and addressing any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest4, in accordance with the institution’s policy on conflict of interest in research, in order to ensure that the objectives of the RCR Framework (Article 1.3) are met.
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Breach of Tri-Agency Research Integrity Policy
Fabrication: Making up data, source material, methodologies or findings, including graphs and images.
Falsification: Manipulating, changing, or omitting data, source material, methodologies or findings, including graphs and images, without acknowledgement and which results in inaccurate findings or conclusions.
Destruction of research records: The destruction of one’s own or another’s research data or records to specifically avoid the detection of wrongdoing or in contravention of the applicable funding agreement, institutional policy and/or laws, regulations and professional or disciplinary standards.
Plagiarism: Presenting and using another’s published or unpublished work, including theories, concepts, data, source material, methodologies or findings, including graphs and images, as one’s own, without appropriate referencing and, if required, without permission.
Redundant publication or self-plagiarism: The re-publication of one’s own previously published work or part thereof, including data, in any language, without adequate acknowledgment of the source, or justification.
Invalid authorship: Inaccurate attribution of authorship, including attribution of authorship to persons other than those who have made a substantial contribution to, and who accept responsibility for, the contents of a publication or document.
Inadequate acknowledgement: Failure to appropriately recognize contributors.
Mismanagement of conflict of interest: Failure to appropriately identify and address any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest, in accordance with the institution’s policy on conflict of interest in research, preventing one or more of the objectives of the RCR Framework (Article 1.3) from being met.