- Laws of Fiji

[NRC 25] Misconduct or unethical behaviour25

(1) Complaints alleging misconduct or unethical behaviour must be made in writing to the Council and the Council must conduct a formal inquiry into the allegation.

(2) Following a formal inquiry under subsection (1), the Council must make a decision to—

(a)not take any action against the alleged person and close the matter;
(b)terminate the research or any approval of the research upon receiving evidence of the misconduct or unethical behaviour; or
(c)remedy the situation as may be required by regulations.

(3) In this section—

(a)misconduct or unethical behaviour means a breach of a provision of this Act, including the following—
- (i)fabrication, falsification or misrepresentation in reporting or of any finding or result;
- (ii)plagiarism;
- (iii)misleading ascription of authorship;
- (iv)failure to declare and manage conflicts of interest without any reasonable excuse;
- (v)falsification, misrepresentation or deception in a proposal to obtain funding;
- (vi)compromising the safety of human participants, or the wellbeing of animals or the environment;
- (vii)negligence of the obligations and duties under the Act; and
- (viii)wilful concealment or facilitation of research misconduct by others; and
(b)research misconduct does not include honest differences in judgment in management of the research project, and may not include honest errors that are minor or unintentional.