RESEARCH MISCONDUCT POLICIES AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN PUERTO RICO.

Institutional policies on research serve to guide graduate students in conducting research. Eight universities in Puerto Rico met the inclusion criteria, and were found to have research misconduct policies for conducting research. The policies were analyzed quantitatively to determine the extent to which these included relevant specific information on procedures needed to address issues that arise in a research misconduct allegation. Comparison of the eight policies revealed that five policies obtained a high score in all five dimensions analyzed. Well-covered topics in the policies included the content of the inquiry report and the content of the investigation report; while the least covered topics were pursuing the allegation, appeal process, and mentoring. Institutions need to revise their research misconduct policies and add more precise information; more institutions need to create these policies.