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CASE STUDY: Expedience, Misrepresentation, or Falsification?

Take $40,000 already approved by the funding agency to support a post-doctoral student and use that money to cover the additional experiment.

Altering the use of research funds without permission of the funder is usually illegal. Funders sometimes specify that small amounts of money (in the neighborhood of $500) can be redistributed between approved categories. Reapportioning a great deal of money, such as $40,000 in this case, is legally and ethically prohibited. It is not an example of fabrication, falsification or plagiarism, however it does seriously deviate from conventional practice and is likely to violate contractual terms between the funder and the institution. Although not technically classified as research misconduct, it is usually directly disallowed in the agreement between the grantor and the grantee institution. It is within the funder's prerogative to have the opportunity to agree or disagree with proposed major changes in the budget or work plan.

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