CIHR Report on Allegations of Non-Compliance with Research Policies (Fiscal Years 2000/01-2010/11)
The graph and table below provide a statistical analysis of allegations of non-compliance with research policies submitted to CIHR between April 2000 and March 2011. A total of 97 allegations were received, the majority submitted by individuals and peer reviewers.
Detailed Breakdown of Research Integrity Files
| Fiscal Year | # allegations received by CIHR | # allegations not pursued | # allegations pursued | # related to TCPS-I | # related to TCPS-E | # related to GAG, MOU, other* | Misconduct found by Institution | No misconduct found by Institution | Active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2002-03 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003-04 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2004-05 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 2005-06 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 2007-08 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2008-09 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009-10 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2010-11 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 97 | 25 | 72 | 59 | 13 | 25 | 34 | 30 | 8 |
*Includes allegations outside the mandate of CIHR
Types of allegations
Of the 97 allegations received since 2000,
- 59 (61%) related to matters associated with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Integrity in Research and Scholarship (TCPS-I), such as plagiarism, falsification of research results, and fraudulent data;
- 13 (13%) related to matters associated to the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct of Research involving Humans (TCPS-E), such as ethics certification issues;
- 17 (18%) related to matters associated with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and other policies, such as lack of adherence to CIHR's Grants and Awards Guide (GAG); and
- 8 (8%) fell outside the mandate of CIHR.
Initial actions taken by CIHR
Of the 97 allegations received,
- 72 (74%) were referred to the institution for action or the institution was required to provide information, as requested by CIHR's Research Integrity Committee or its Secretariat;
- 25 (26%) were not pursued because,the information presented did not justify further action;
- the matter was outside CIHR's mandate;
- the source of the allegation was anonymous and the facts were not publicly available nor otherwise independently verifiable, or the source refused to or was unable to provide such information; and/or
- of unreasonable delay between the alleged event and the receipt of the allegation.
Results of Institutional Investigations
Of the 72 allegations that were referred to institutions for investigation,
- 34 (48%) were founded, meaning that the institution concluded that misconduct did occur;
- 30 (42%) were either not sustained, were settled before a formal investigation was undertaken, or it was not possible for the institution to complete the investigation; and
- 8 (10%) files remain active.
CIHR Recourse
- CIHR took recourse in 14 of the 34 confirmed cases of misconduct.
- Recourse is taken by CIHR only in serious matters, where institutional actions do not suffice.
- Where misconduct centred on less-serious, procedural matters, and where these were effectively addressed by institutions, CIHR took no action.
- To date, the types of recourse that CIHR has taken in matters of confirmed misconduct included rendering respondents ineligible for CIHR funding for periods ranging from 1 year to indefinitely; and declaring respondents ineligible to serve on peer review committees or any CIHR committee for a defined period of time.