Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Program at Ball State University is a comprehensive initiative dedicated to ensuring ethical, honest, and accountable conduct of research activities within the institution.
Ball State requires all federally funded researchers, their key personnel, and their students to complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) RCR Basic Course - All Funded Research modules. Additional training is also required for all investigators participating in research involving the use of human subjects, or animals, and certificates of completion are required at the time of protocol submission for review by the appropriate ethics boards (e.g. IACUC, IRB)
CITI Program Manual Guidance for Federal Researchers
Employees have an obligation to disclose financial conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of commitment.
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Research Misconduct and Plagiarism
Learn about the difference between research misconduct and research plagiarism and how to report it.
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Authorship
Authorship on a scientific publication and/or creative project is both a reward and a responsibility. The completion and signing on this agreement (Word) aids in the avoidance of conflicts on who should and will be included as an author on scholarly work. For specific rules and recommendations regarding who (in general) qualifies for authorship, please refer to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Research Integrity’s policy on authorship and publication or the Ball State General Authorship Guidelines.
All BSU researchers are encouraged to share their scholarly findings in the form accepted by the university. This web page serves as a general guideline for consideration of the important issues and questions surrounding authorship and publication.
- Author: An individual who has made substantial intellectual contributions to a scientific investigation, usually through participation in drafting, reviewing, and/or revising the manuscript for intellectual content.
- Authorship: The ability to publicly take responsibility for the contents of the project (e.g., being sufficiently knowledgeable about the project to be able to present it in a formal forum).
- Collaborative Research: Equal partnership between two academic faculty members who are pursing mutually interesting and beneficial research, or ii. research involving investigators of differing stature, funding status, and types of organizations or institutions.
- Data: Information collected for reference and analysis.
- Data Ownership: Refers to both the possession of and responsibility for information.
- Plagiarism: To steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own; literary theft.
- Presentation: A demonstration or display of a project and project findings.
- Publication: A structured and controlled means of communicating research results.
Lead Author
- Assumes overall responsibility for the manuscript and often serves as the managerial and corresponding author.
- Is not necessarily the primary investigator.
Co-Authors
Authors included in the project that are not the lead author.
Acknowledgements
Individual(s) who may have made some contribution to a publication, but who do not meet the criteria for authorship, including:
- Staff
- Editorial Assistants
- Medical Writers
- Others
The order of authorship should be based on the degree of importance of each author’s contribution to the project. This is a collective decision among the authors in a group.
Generally, examples of substantive contributions of authors include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Aiding in the conceptualization of the hypotheses.
- Designing the methodology of the investigation.
- Significantly contributing to the writing of the manuscript.
These activities are not (alone) sufficient grounds for authorship:
- Entering information into databases.
- Collecting data (running subjects, collecting specimens, distributing and collecting questionnaires.)
Faculty-student collaborations should follow the same criteria to establish authorship. Mentors must exercise great care to neither award authorship to students who contributions do not merit it, nor deny authorship and due credit to the word of students.
Forms of unacceptable authorship include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Ghost Authorship: occurs when a written work fails to identify individuals who made significant contributions to the research and writing of that work.
- Guest Authorship: granted out of the appreciation of respect of an individual, or in the belief that expert standing of the guest will increase the likelihood of publication, credibility, or status of the work.
- Gift Authorship: credit offered from a sense of obligation, tribute, or dependence, within the context of an anticipated benefit, to an individual who has not contributed to the work; also known as honorary authorship.
In the case of an authorship dispute (i.e. disagreement over authorship and order of authors), it is the responsibility of the group to resolve the problem. If a resolution cannot be reached, any concerned party from the group is encouraged to contact the Office of Research Integrity.
Mentorship
Research mentorships are mutually beneficial relationships where an experienced researcher, known as the mentor, shares their expertise, knowledge, and wisdom with a student or early-career researcher, the mentee. By modeling ethical research practices, mentors play a crucial role in educating mentees in responsible conduct of research (RCR).
All BSU researchers are encouraged to utilize mentorship as a means of both professional development and responsible conduction of research. This web page serves as a general guideline for consideration of the important issues and questions surrounding mentorship.
Please check back during the fall of 2024 for updated mentoring resources including a new mentorship toolkit and mentorship agreement document.
Access the current Ball State University Mentoring Contract here.
Mentorship Relationship Resources:
Mentorship Agreement Resources:
Notice: New Mentorship Requirements for Those Receiving Support through National Science Foundation (NSF) funds (effective May 20, 2024)
If seeking support from the NSF and the proposal includes support for graduate students or post-doctoral scholars, it is mandatory to submit a 1-page “Mentoring Plan” at the time of proposal submission. If funded, Individual Development Plans (IDP) must be developed for each graduate student or post-doctoral scholar, and these IDPs must be updated annually.
Per NSF PAPPG 24-1, all proposals submitted to the NSF on or after May 20, 2024, that request support for graduate students or postdoctoral scholars must comply with the following:
If funded, an IDP must be created for each graduate student or post-doctoral scholar receiving support from the award. IDPs must be updated annually, and PIs or co-PIs must certify that each mentee has an IDP at the time of submitting each annual report and final annual report. Information about IDPs will be made available here in the coming months.
View BSU's Mentoring Plan Guidance Document here.
View NSF’s Mentoring Plan resource page here.
Mentoring plans should meet the following requirements:
PIs must certify that each postdoctoral scholar and graduate receiving support from the award has an Individual Development Plan (IDP) which maps educational goals, career exploration, and professional development. Project reports should address all mentorship activities under the Broader Impacts criterion, even when not directly related to the research. Reporting is not cumulative and should be written outlining only activities occurring throughout the current budget period.
Please work with your SPA Proposal Manager or the Responsible Conduct of Research Officer, when developing your plan for inclusion in your proposal.