NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS
CLOSEOUT MEMORANDUM
Case Number: A12070049 Page 1 of 1
We assessed an allegation of potential research misconduct in work published by a
graduate student. 1' 2 The complaint alleges that the published work was performed under
direction of and in collaboration with a mentor not named in the paper; that the work was
fabricated because the experimental data included was incomplete and inaccurate; and that
another researcher 3 and the graduate student published a second paper4 including research results
from the collaborative effort again not acknowledged. Although the researcher is a coPI on a
recent (and now closed) NSF award, 5 the graduate student has not been supported by NSF funds,
the neither publication acknowledges NSF support, and neither publication is cited as research
supported by the NSF award. Without connection to NSF -supported research, this office has no
jurisdiction in this matter. The complaint also relays concerns about intellectual property
disclosures and claims at a university. Lacking jurisdiction, we did not investigate these
concerns.
Accordingly, this case is closed.
NSF OIG Form 2 (11/02)
Data Tampering / Sabotage / Fabrication
Published by the National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General on 2013-03-27.
Below is a raw (and likely hideous) rendition of the original report. (PDF)