WMed and its affiliated entities recognize academic freedom, including freedom in research and scholarly activities, as fundamental to our educational and research missions. Misconduct in scientific research and scholarly activities fundamentally undermines the intellectual integrity of the medical school as a whole, as well as the reputations of those associated with WMed. Such misconduct is a serious violation of federal regulations and institutional policy, and appropriate action must be taken. All members of the WMed community are responsible to assure that misconduct in research and scholarly activities is dealt with effectively, while at the same time, preserving the confidentiality and rights of all individuals involved in misconduct proceedings. To meet these needs and in compliance with federal regulations, WMed has instituted the policy RES04 Misconduct in Research and Scholarly Activities.
Being good stewards of research ethics is one of our primary goals. By providing responsible conduct of research education and offering advice on authorship and data management we can prevent issues from rising to the level of misconduct and we will have a better understanding of academic pursuits and expectations in the research process.
Responsibilities of the Research Integrity Officer include:
- Counseling faculty, residents, fellows, staff, and students on authorship best practices as outlined in policy GEN06 Authorship.
- Counseling faculty, residents, fellows, staff, and students on best practices regarding control and ownership of data.
- Providing responsible conduct of research educational activities for faculty, residents, fellows, staff, and students.
- Implementing and overseeing policy RES04 Misconduct in Research and Scholarly Activities impartially without serving as an advocate for complainants, respondents, or others involved in any misconduct proceeding.
- Serving as the Conflict of Interest Officer and chair of the Conflict of Interest Committee for all research and scholarly activities.
- Implementing and overseeing policies GEN04 Conflicts of Interest and Commitment and GEN05 Interaction with Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Medical Device Companies in collaboration with the Chief Compliance Officer.
- Serving on the institutional Compliance Committee.
To report an allegation of research misconduct, please call 269.337.6170 or email jered.cornelison@wmed.edu.
Anonymous allegations will be considered; however, the allegation must contain sufficient information to permit an objective assessment of the allegation. Anonymous allegations can be submitted to the Concern and Compliance Hotline online or call 833.222.1416. Anonymous allegations can be mailed to:
Western Michigan Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
ATTN: Jered Cornelison, Research Integrity Officer
1000 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008
Research Integrity Officer
Jered Cornelison, PhD, served as the Research Integrity Coordinator, assisting the Research Integrity Officer at Michigan State University between 2000 and 2014. In this role, he advised the Research Integrity Officer, coordinated research misconduct proceedings, researched allegations and acquired supporting evidence for allegations, and advised faculty and students on authorship and data management best practices. In addition, Dr. Cornelison has given multiple responsible conduct of research presentations and co-authored the results of research on the effect of Mentoring and Research Misconduct. In 2014, Dr. Cornelison was appointed the Research Integrity Officer at WMed. Dr. Cornelison’s philosophy as the Research Integrity Officer is to protect the confidentiality and rights of individuals involved in research misconduct proceedings, handling allegations of research misconduct without bias, and preventing allegations of misconduct through responsible conduct of research education and advice.
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- Professionalism and Integrity in Research (P.I. Program) – Washington University in St. Louis
- “The Lab” interactive movie on research misconduct – Office of Research Integrity
- "The Research Clinic” interactive training video on protection of research participants and avoiding research misconduct
- “Integrity in Scientific Research’” videos – Office of Research Integrity
- “RCR Responsible Authorship and Peer Review” – Columbia University
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WMed is committed to an environment that promotes honesty, objectivity, and transparency. In addition, federal regulations and accrediting agencies require the identification, management, and elimination of conflicts of interest and commitment. Policies GEN04 Conflicts of Interest and Commitment and RES08 Financial Conflicts of Interest in Research and Sponsored Programs, establish principles and practices to minimize the potential for financial and other interests, and commitments to adversely affect medical school activities. The purpose of these policies is to avoid the adverse impact of conflicts of interest and commitment in the learning and working environment, which includes all medical school activities in medical education, clinical care, research activities, and community service, by providing guidelines for identification, review, management, and resolution of conflicts of interest and commitment.
GEN04 Conflicts of Interest and Commitment requires employed faculty, residents, fellows, staff, and individuals serving in a decision-making role on Standing Committees to disclose their significant financial interests, commitments, and personal relationships on a continuing basis with annual attestation. Conflicts are identified and managed through established medical school processes.
RES08 Financial Conflicts of Interest in Research and Sponsored Programs requires all individuals with a role of investigator in projects managed by WMed Sponsored Programs Administration and research reviewed by the Institutional Review Board and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to disclose their significant financial interests related to research.
All general conflicts of interest and commitment are managed by the Chief Compliance Officer and the Research Integrity Officer. For more information email compliance@wmed.edu.