The Department proposes substantial revisions to the existing regulation at 42 CFR part 50, subpart A, "Responsibilities of Awardee and Applicant Institutions for Dealing With and Reporting Possible Misconduct in Science," 54 FR 32446 (Aug. 8, 1989) (final rule). We propose to delete this regulation, which implemented section 493 of the PHS Act, and add a new part 93, subparts A, B, C, D, and E. The purpose of this proposed rule is to implement legislative and policy changes that have occurred since the regulation was issued, including the common Federal policies and procedures on research misconduct issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. We have developed the proposed changes based on over 12 years of experience with the existing final rule. The proposed rule would help to ensure public confidence in the integrity of scientific data and the Public Health Service (PHS) supported research process.
A formal finding of research misconduct under 42 CFR part 93 (HHS) or equivalent agency policy. The respondent was found to have engaged in fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of research data. The federal grant funds involved are typically identified in the FR notice, along with the administrative actions (debarment, supervised research, manuscript correction or retraction requirements).