Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A postdoctoral researcher inserts fabricated Western blot lanes into a figure to support a hypothesis and submits the manuscript for publication.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A researcher whose calibration error produces incorrect values and who, on discovering the error, files a correction with the journal.
Editorial commentary
Research misconduct has no single global definition. What counts as misconduct, who investigates it, and what standard of proof applies all vary by jurisdiction — conflating them is a common and consequential error, especially for cross-border collaborations and journals with international authorship.
In the United States, the federal definition administered by the Office of Research Integrity (42 CFR Part 93) restricts research misconduct to fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism (FFP) in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. A finding requires all three elements of the regulation’s own test: the conduct is a significant departure from accepted practices of the relevant research community; it was committed intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly; and it is proven by a preponderance of the evidence. The definition explicitly excludes honest error and honest differences of opinion — not a footnote, but the mechanism that keeps ordinary correction, good-faith retraction, and legitimate methodological disagreement outside the misconduct system.
Other jurisdictions draw the boundary more broadly. The UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) — an independent charity, not a statutory regulator — works from the UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity, which reaches beyond FFP to practices such as undisclosed conflicts of interest and pressuring research environments; UKRIO itself has no investigatory power, and UK institutions retain responsibility for their own cases. ALLEA’s European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity similarly extends beyond FFP, and ENRIO, the European Network of Research Integrity Offices, coordinates practice across national bodies whose own statutory powers vary widely — most are advisory, like UKRIO, not investigatory. A researcher or journal operating across borders cannot assume the US FFP-only standard applies elsewhere, or that a broader European finding meets the US preponderance-of-evidence bar.
Research misconduct is distinct from questionable research practices (QRPs), which fall short of the threshold above but still erode trust — p-hacking and HARKing are typically addressed through journal policy, not a misconduct finding. See falsification, fabrication, and the falsification vs fabrication comparison for how the FFP categories differ from each other, and CASRAI’s guide to how a research-misconduct investigation actually works for the mechanics of a finding once a jurisdiction’s threshold is met.
References
- US Office of Research Integrity, 42 CFR Part 93 (definitions at 93.103, 93.211, 93.212, 93.227, 93.234)
- UKRIO Code of Practice for Research (2009, updated 2022)
- ALLEA European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2023)
Also known as
FFP · scientific misconduct · academic misconduct
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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