New guidance documents are available for the updated 42 CFR Part 93. These guidance documents act as practical resources tailored to meet the complexities of the updated regulation.
What Institutions Can Expect
This release includes guidance documents that focus on key topic areas described in the Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct (42 CFR Part 93) to assist institutions in complying with the updated regulation.
New topic-specific guidance documents released in September 2026 include:
Conflicts of Interest Guidance (pdf): This guidance document describes how institutions can take precautions to ensure that officials and members honestly and impartially carry out their duties and do not have unresolved personal, professional, or financial conflicts of interest with those involved in the research misconduct proceeding.
Institutional Committees Guidance (pdf): This guidance document describes some considerations for institutions as they draw upon committee members’ expertise to support research misconduct proceedings.
RIOs and Institutional Officials Guidance (pdf): This document highlights the different responsibilities of institutional roles including the Research Integrity Officer, the Institutional Deciding Official, and the Institutional Certifying Official.
ORI will continue to release guidance documents and stakeholders can look forward to more resources focusing on priority areas. ORI has reorganized the Guidance Document Webpage to help institutions most effectively utilize these resources.
Please note: Some of the newly released guidance may cross-reference other guidance documents that ORI has not yet released. Users can expect these referenced guidance documents to be released by ORI in the near future.
What Institutions Can Do
We encourage all institutions and their counsel to read closely the newly released guidance documents so they can appropriately address research misconduct proceedings. To access the new guidance documents and stay updated on our phased rollout plan, please visit our website at https://ori.hhs.gov/guidance-documents or contact AskORI@hhs.gov for any inquiries.
