Ethics and Integrity in Research and Scholarly Activity Policy

Vancouver Community College (VCC; the College) is committed to supporting, promoting, and developing processes that ensure the highest standards of ethics and integrity in research and scholarly activity. 

This policy designates responsibility for maintaining these standards and specifies processes for addressing allegations of, and a timely response to, misconduct related to ethics and integrity in research and scholarly activity.

VCC expects all those conducting research and scholarly activity under the auspices of the College (researchers, faculty, students, technical assistants, administrators, etc.) to adhere to the principles and processes articulated in this policy and accompanying procedures.

1. The College expects that all research and scholarly activities will be conducted with the highest level of integrity and ethics.


2. The Vice-President Academic & Research (or delegate) is responsible for promoting integrity in research and supporting educational activities on research and research practices.


3. Researchers are responsible for maintaining the highest level of integrity and ethics while conducting research and scholarly activity.


4. The College will establish a fair unbiased and timely process for investigating and responding to allegations of misconduct in research.


5. Misconduct while undertaking research and scholarly activity is unacceptable and may be cause for disciplinary action or sanctions.

Conflict of Interest

A situation in which a researcher's/investigator's personal or financial interests are in conflict or perceived to conflict with the College's interests or mission, or with the proper performance of the employee's job duties, responsibilities, or obligations. A conflict of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived. A perceived conflict of interest can be as detrimental as an actual conflict of interest as such actions similarly undermine or compromise public confidence in the College or the College's trust in the employee's ability to discharge work responsibilities and obligations.

Research and Scholarly Activity

Research and scholarly activity refer to an undertaking intended to extend knowledge through a disciplined inquiry or systematic investigation. Scholarly activity includes research and pilot studies; the dissemination of new knowledge through such means as publications, presentations, and exhibitions; and the application of new knowledge in professional practice and student learning. Scholarly activity also includes creative activities designed to further artistic endeavour.

Researcher/Investigator

The terms researcher and investigator are used interchangeably for the purposes of this policy; researcher/investigator, for the purposes of this policy, means an individual—a VCC employee (faculty, staff and/or administrators at VCC), student, or other—either paid or volunteering to conduct research or scholarly activity at or through the College.

Research Misconduct

Misconduct in research refers to conduct that deviates from that which is acceptable within the scholarly community, and includes, but is not limited to:
a. Plagiarism (i.e. presenting and using another's published or unpublished work, as one's own, without appropriate referencing and, if required, without permission);
b. Fabrication (ie. making body that reviews research proposalsup data, source material, methodologies or findings, including graphs and images);
c. Conflict of scholarly interest such as opposing the publication or compromising the work of another author, particularly in the publications and review forums, for the purposes of benefiting oneself directly or indirectly;
d. Failure to comply with College policies and procedures with respect to research and scholarly activity;
e. Failure to recognize the substantive intellectual contributions of all collaborators by including in publications and reports those collaborators and no others;
f. Failure to comply with College policies on conflict of interest or intellectual property rights;
g. Using unpublished work of other scholars and researchers without permission and/or due acknowledgement;
h. Using research funds in a manner that is not consistent with the terms and conditions under which those funds were received;
i. Failure to obtain all required approvals for research involving humanhumans, or failure to conduct research in accordance with prescribed protocols;
j. Failure to use archival material in accordance with the rules of the archival source;
k. The use of materials and concepts obtained through confidential processes such as manuscript review or funding applications without prior written permission of the author;
l. Failure to disclose any conflict of interest, financial or other, to the College, journals, funding agencies, or those requesting opinions;
a.m. Failure to maintain guarantees of confidentiality to research participants to ensure that ethical principles are upheld.subject to the limits prescribed by law;
n. The use of redundant publications (i.e. the re-publication of one's own previously published work or part thereof, or data, in any language, without adequate acknowledgement of the source, or justification);
o. The destruction of research records, be they one's own or of another's research data or records, to specifically avoid the detection of wrongdoing;
p. Using grant or award funds for purposes inconsistent with the policies of the funder; contravening funder financial policies; or providing incomplete, inaccurate or false information on documentation.

• Academic Integrity (325)
• Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (420)
• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (501)
• Prevention of Harassment, Discrimination, and Bullying (201)
• Records Management (520)
• Standards of Employee Conduct & Conflict of Interest (202)
• Student Non-Academic Conduct (324)

• Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans - TCPS 2 (2022)