Research Misconduct Subsequent Use Exception SOP

• ACA-30 applies a six-year time limitation for allegations of research misconduct.
• ACA-30 also includes the subsequent use exception, allowing the university to address allegations of misconduct that occurred before the six-year limitation if the respondent continues or renews the incident of alleged misconduct through the use of, republication of, or citation to the disputed portion of the research record within the last six-years.

Upon receipt of allegations that fall outside the six-year time limitation, the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) and/or their staff will review each allegation to determine if the respondent has cited, republished, or used the allegedly falsified, fabricated, or plagiarized research record within six years of the date the allegation was received. The RIO and/or their staff will examine the citation, republication, or use of the disputed data, conclusions, or results derived from the questioned data, and/or the allegedly plagiarized text in the following contexts:

• Manuscripts on which the respondent is listed as an author.
• The respondent's grant proposals (funded or unfunded), including specific aims, research strategy, selected publications, and other substantive sections, as well as research performance progress reports for funded proposals.

If the questioned data, conclusions, or results derived from the questioned data, or the allegedly plagiarized text is cited, republished, or used as a direct reference to support the respondent's ideas, claims, theories, or conclusions, it qualifies as subsequent use and the allegation will be considered in scope of ACA-30.

Simply including a citation to a publication without scientific context may not qualify as subsequent use. For example:

• Respondent's biosketch cites a publication without specific reference to any specific portion of the research record
• Respondent‘s subsequent publication cites to the disputed publication only as a description of the research methods used

The RIO and/or their staff will document all findings related to the subsequent use exception, including the review process and the determination of whether the allegations fall within the exception.