oversight

                                          NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
                                          OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
                                            OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS

                                     CLOSEOUT MEMORANDUM

 Case Number: A14020003                                                        Page 1 ofl


         We received an allegation that a PJl plagiarized from a paper2 into his NSF
         proposal3. The PI told us he had been impressed with the paper and wrote detailed
         notes on it to discuss in his proposal. He acknowledged his wording was too similar
         to the paper's, and the end result was unprofessional and inappropriate. He said he
         did not intend to plagiarize: he referenced and cited the paper in the proposal, and
         he suggested to NSF that two of the paper's authors be considered as reviewers.
         Given the PI's explanation, together with the small amount of copied text, we
         conclude the PI's actions do not constitute research misconduct. We sent the PI a
         letter advising him to be more cautious when making notes and relying on them in
         his composition. According, this case is closed with no further action taken.




NSF OIG Form 2 (11102)