The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a request for information (RFI), https://go.usa.gov/xvyHX, to invite comments on the sequestration of digital evidence during a research misconduct proceeding.

To better support institutions in carrying out their responsibility for maintenance and custody of research records and evidence, ORI intends to publish guidelines that will inform interested parties of good practices for sequestering evidence during a research misconduct proceeding. In preparation for producing these, ORI is interested in learning what major challenges exist in the sequestration process and approaches to overcome them, especially in regards to digital evidence. The responses gathered from the RFI will be reviewed by ORI staff and will be taken into consideration as they draft guidance on sequestration.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to OASH-ORI-Public-Comments@hhs.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on June 15, 2020.