Fearlessly Forward with integrity
Office of Integrity and Responsible Conduct
By addressing concerns of professional and research/scholarly misconduct and promoting appropriate practices, OIRC strives to support UMD in fulfilling its mission of achieving excellence in teaching, research, and public service.
As a state institution for which the public trust is essential — and as the flagship university within the University System of Maryland (USM) — the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) bears a particular responsibility to: promote a culture of integrity, responsibility, and adherence to expectations and requirements for conduct; provide related training, guidance, resources, and support to the campus community; and investigate and address concerns regarding potential misconduct through established policies and procedures.
OIRC serves as a critical component of the larger institutional infrastructure that works to meet this responsibility.
Functional Areas
OIRC works in the following areas:
Review of Integrity and Conduct Issues
OIRC addresses a variety of concerns related to the integrity and responsible conduct of members of the UMD community, with a primary focus on research/scholarly misconduct and professional misconduct.
Education and Prevention
Equally as important as addressing concerns regarding integrity and responsible conduct, OIRC works to prevent issues from arising through the provision of education and resources to support best practices and help our community members meet expectations. Primary among these efforts is OIRC's administration of "RCR@UMD," the institution's Responsible Conduct of Research program.
Important News
An interim policy on faculty professional conduct recently went into effect. Read the policy and learn more about how professional misconduct issues are addressed here.
Contact us
You can reach OIRC at oirc@umd.edu or 301-314-1814. Questions regarding research/scholarly misconduct can be directed to rio@umd.edu. Inquiries about Responsible Conduct of Research training can be sent to rcr@umd.edu.
We are committed to ensuring that our UMD community can move Fearlessly Forward with integrity. Learn more about the dedicated staff of our office.