Research Integrity at UD

The University of Delaware is committed to promoting and protecting the responsible pursuit of scientific research. UD faculty and students are obligated to practice intellectual honesty and to observe established professional standards in their fields at all times, from the formulation of proposals, to their interactions with research associates and students, to the collection, handling and evaluation of data, to the peer review process, and the protection and presentation of results.

All members of the UD research community are expected to follow the highest ethical standards and are encouraged to report any concerns they may have by contacting the Interim Associate Vice President for Research & Regulatory Affairs in the UD Research Office directly, or the Compliance Hotline.

UD policy and Federal requirements (Pilot Program) prohibit retaliation against an individual making a misconduct allegation in good faith.

Ensuring the responsible conduct of research is paramount.

“Scientific research is grounded in values such as integrity, honesty, trust, curiosity and respect for intellectual achievement. The expression of these values in the diverse styles and approaches of the various scientific disciplines has contributed directly to the discovery of knowledge and thus to the achievements of the U.S. scientific research enterprise,” noted the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy in the report, On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research.

However, as the report goes on to say, growth of the U.S. research enterprise, changing social expectations about the accountability of scientists, increasingly complex research that places new demands on scientific oversight and expanded commercialization of research results have catalyzed the formation and implementation of new policies and regulations by academic institutions and funding agencies to safeguard the process of science in today’s academic research arena.

The University of Delaware holds its faculty and staff to the highest standards of conduct. It is University policy that “employees are expected at all times, to respect the rights of the University, its students, visitors and other members of the University community. Inherent in this responsibility is the obligation to be courteous, respectful, honest and to protect the University environment.”

These standards of conduct are critical to every step of the UD researcher’s pursuit of the truth, from the formulation of proposals, to interactions with research associates and students, to the collection and handling of data from experiments or other scholarly activity, to the evaluation of that data, peer review and protection and presentation of results. Furthermore, research involving human or animal subjects must be administered according to established University policies and federal regulations and with a commitment to the highest ethical standards.

Every UD researcher needs to understand and comply with the policies and procedures, established by the University and the federal government, that are relevant to his or her research. You’ll find links to a complete listing of UD’s policies, along with required forms, highlighted in the blue box above and on our Policies & Forms page on this website.

Misconduct in Research

The Federal Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) defines research misconduct as “fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community for proposing, performing or reporting research results.”

Conflict of Interest (COI) in Research

All UD employees are expected to conduct their research-related duties with integrity, and to avoid association with any activities that could diminish, or could be perceived as diminishing, the effectiveness of their commitment to the University.

Involvement of faculty and staff with appropriate commercial enterprises aligns with University mission as it is an important part of the transfer of knowledge and it is encouraged by the University to enhance both teaching and research programs. Association of faculty and staff with commercial enterprises should be such that it benefits all the parties involved, including the University.

University of Delaware’s Conflict of Interest in Research Policy defines a potential conflict of interest (COI) as an occurrence when there is a divergence between an individual’s private interests and his or her professional obligations, such that an independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual’s professional judgment, commitment, actions or decisions could be influenced by considerations of personal gain, financial or otherwise.

In addition to the Conflict of Interest in Research Policy, the University has another conflict of interest policy which allows the University to identify, evaluate and address conflicts of interest that might call into question the fiduciary duties of its Trustees, Officers and Senior Administrators. It is called the Financial Conflicts of Interest for Senior Administrators Policy and requires all Senior Administrators and Trustees to complete a COI Disclosure annually.

The two policies have different scopes. Depending on the institutional roles and responsibilities of certain positions some individuals are required to fulfill the disclosure requirements from both. Any questions about the Financial COI for Seniors Administrators Policy and procedures should be directed to the Office of the General Counsel.
 

Patents

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention. Once a patent is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without the aid of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Copyright

Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly.

The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using the machine. Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

As defined by the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright is a form of protection provided by U.S. law to the authors of “original works of authorship” fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The manner and medium of fixation are virtually unlimited. Creative expression may be captured in words, numbers, notes, sounds, pictures, or any other graphic or symbolic media. The subject matter of copyright is extremely broad, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, audiovisual, and architectural works. Copyright protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

Under the 1976 Copyright Act, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display the work. In the case of sound recordings, the copyright owner has the right to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. These exclusive rights are freely transferable and may be licensed, sold, donated to charity, or bequeathed to the copyright owner’s heirs. It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. If the copyright owner prevails in an infringement claim, the available remedies include preliminary and permanent injunctions (court orders to stop current or prevent future infringements), impounding, and destroying the infringing articles.

The exclusive rights of the copyright owner, however, are limited in a number of important ways. Under the “fair use” doctrine, which has long been part of U.S. copyright law and was expressly incorporated in the 1976 Copyright Act, a judge may excuse unauthorized uses that may otherwise be infringing. Section 107 of the Copyright Act lists criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research as examples of uses that may be eligible for the fair use defense. In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a “compulsory license” under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. The Copyright Act also contains a number of statutory limitations covering specific uses for educational, religious, and charitable purposes.

Trademarks

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms “trademark” and “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and service marks.

Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks that are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled Basic Facts about Trademarks.

Trade Secrets

In most states a trade secret is a formula, pattern, physical device, idea, process, compilation of information or other information that provides a business with a competitive advantage and it
is treated in a way that can reasonably be expected to prevent the public or competitors form learning about it, absent improper acquisition or theft.

Tangible Materials

Tangible research materials are any materials, substances or articles created or used in research including, for example, genes and constructs from a molecular biology program, samples of novel photovoltaic solar cell materials, or composite gaseous diffusion membranes for fuel cells. In recent years, biological materials have proven particularly valuable since they may be cumulative of past developments and be self-reproducing, providing future supplies of the material and technology. A decision to release or accept a tangible research material can have far-reaching consequences since such materials are frequently cumulative of advances in technology and carry personal property rights, which can severely limit the practice of future inventions made using the materials. Premature transfer of tangible research materials can constitute disclosure and/or public use of an invention and trigger statutory bars under the patent statute. They also provide an opportunity to the recipient to quickly advance work in the area and make inventions University staff would have expected themselves. Of greatest concern, however, would be the use of materials acquired by a University researcher without a legal right, thereby blocking future commercialization of the fruits of an entire research program. Careful attention to the right to use acquired material has become critical over the last 20 years with new law being created due to developments in the biotechnology field.

Tangible research materials made by faculty, staff or students in the course of employment at the University of Delaware, or work directly related to professional or employment responsibilities, or work carried out on University time, at University expense, or with substantial use of University resources under grants or otherwise, is the property of the University. Data obtained from the use of tangible research materials in research at the University legally belongs to the University, not to the individuals who produced the data. Tangible research materials made by non-employees working with a faculty or staff member under the above conditions are also the property of the University. If the University or faculty, staff or students wish to make such materials available to the research community, such access is under the aegis of a material transfer agreement executed by the University. Questions or requests to review material transfer agreements for signature should be addressed to the Intellectual Property Center.

Data

The research activities of the University may create a broad range of intellectual property and tangible research materials, defined as data acquired or generated by faculty, staff or students in the conduct of research. Under federal regulations, data includes all recorded information, regardless of the form or medium on which it is recorded, including writings, film, sound, pictorial reproductions, drawings, designs or other graphic representations, manuals, forms, diagrams or flow charts, data files, data processing or computer programs, statistical records and other research data. Data includes all information and materials commonly accepted as necessary to validate research findings. Frequently, data is used to define forms of intellectual property, such as patentable inventions or copyrightable works, and on occasion may itself constitute trade secret intellectual property.

Data obtained by faculty, staff or students in the course of employment at the University, or work directly related to professional or employment responsibilities, or work carried out on University time, at University expense, or with substantial use of University resources under grants or otherwise is the property of the University. Data obtained from the use of tangible research materials in research at the University legally belongs to the University, not to the individuals who produced the data. Ownership rights in data may be subject to the specific terms of sponsorship or other agreements.