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TNEA CODE 2723

Code of Ethics

Objectives of Ethics Committee
  • To provide advice and guidance to the academic community on all matters pertaining to academic research ethics.
  • To advise the Academic Council on compliance with the ‘Code of Ethics in Academic Research’ of the various academic activities at the Institute.
  • To provide guidance and academic support to scholars on ethical issues in respect of teaching, research and other academic activities. On an entirely voluntary basis, researchers may ask the Ethics Committee for consultation on ethical aspects of their research.
  • To confirm to external parties on behalf of the Institute compliance with ethical standards in respect of research projects undertaken at the Institute. The Committee is only convened at the explicit request of scholars needing an assessment of the ethical dimensions of a research project.
  • To advise the Executive Committee and the Academic Council of any policies that may be required in relation to accepting funds from particular sponsors of research.
  • To act as an investigative/consultative body for any disputed matter concerning research ethics and conduct.
  • To make recommendations to the internal Disciplinary Committee on what action, if any, should be taken as a result of the investigations.

  • Appointment and Composition of the Ethics Committee

    The Ethics Committee is appointed by the Academic Council upon nomination by the Principal.

    S.No. Name Designation Department Position
    1 Dr. M. Jayaraman Professor & Principal Mechanical Engg. Chairman
    2 Dr.K.R.Valluvan Professor & CoE ECE Member
    3 Dr.S.Jabeen Begum Professor & Head CSE Member
    4 Dr.P.Sakthivel Professor & Head EEE Member
    5 Dr.Deepa Jananakumar Professor & Head Physics Member
    6 Dr.V.Chandrasekaran Professor & R&D Coordinator MDE Member

    The nomination of faculty members of the Committee should endeavor to cover all the disciplines of the Institute.

    In case of conflict of interests, members of the Ethics Committee shall be temporarily replaced by substitutes nominated by the Principal.


    Misconduct in Academic Research

    Misconduct in academic research implies (and is not limited to) fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or deception in proposing, carrying out or reporting results of research and deliberate, dangerous or negligent deviations from accepted practice in carrying out research. It includes failure to follow an agreed protocol if and when this failure results in unreasonable risk or harm to persons, the environment, and when it facilitates misconduct in research by collusion in, or concealment of, such actions by others.

    Misconduct also includes any plan or attempt to do any of these things. It does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretation or judgment in evaluating research methods or results, or misconduct unrelated to research processes.


    Misconduct includes (and is not limited to) the following acts:

    Plagiarism: The deliberate copying of ideas, text, data or other work (or any combination thereof) without due permission and acknowledgement.


    Piracy: The deliberate exploitation of ideas from others without proper acknowledgement.

    Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights: Failure to observe legal norms regarding copyright and the moral rights of authors.

    Abuse of Research Resources: Failure to observe the terms and conditions of institutionally licensed research resources. Defamation: Failure to observe relevant legal norms governing libel and slander.

    Misinterpretation: The deliberate attempt to represent falsely or unfairly the ideas or work of others, whether or not for personal gain or enhancement.

    Personation: The situation where someone other than the person who has submitted any academic work has prepared (parts of) the work.

    Fabrication and Fraud: The falsification or invention of qualifications, data, information or citations in any formal academic exercise.

    Sabotage: Acting to prevent others from completing their work. This includes stealing or cutting pages out of library books or otherwise damaging them; or wilfully disrupting the experiments of others; or endangering institutional access to licensed research resources by wilfully failing to observe their terms and conditions.

    Professorial misconduct: Professorial acts that are arbitrary, biased or exploitative.

    Denying access to information or material: To deny others access arbitrarily to scholarly resources or to deliberately and groundlessly impede their progress.

    Misconduct in formal examinations: Includes having access, or attempting to gain access during an examination, to any books, memoranda, notes, unauthorized electronic devices or any other material, except such as may have been supplied by the invigilator or authorized by the Academic Department. It also includes aiding or attempting to aid another candidate or obtaining or attempting to obtain aid from another candidate or any other communication and conversations that could have an impact on the examination results.


    Two levels of violations of good academic practice can be distinguished.

    1. Minor Violations:

    Minor violations may occur because of inexperience or lack of knowledge of the principles of academic integrity and are often characterized by the absence of dishonest intent on the part of the person committing the violation.

    They may result from:

  • weak procedures and methods which may jeopardize the integrity of the research but are not undertaken deliberately or recklessly.
  • weaknesses which present no major risks to either subjects or policies which they may influence.
  • On the whole, these minor violations can be seen as failings which may reflect only poor, rather than unacceptable practices and therefore mainly require further training and development rather than any formal disciplinary action.

    2. Major Violations: Major violations are breaches of academic integrity that are more serious in nature or that affect a more significant aspect or portion of the academic work compared with minor violations.

    Key examples are:

  • Deliberate, reckless or grossly negligent conduct which would clearly pose a significant risk in one form or another to the integrity of the research.
  • Conduct that may pose risks to subjects, the wider community, the environment, or to the research reputation of the institution and research in general.
  • Plagiarism: Plagiarism represents unethical scientific behavior which is never acceptable. Proper acknowledgement of the work of other used in a research work must always be given. Further, it is the obligatory on part of each author to provide prompt corrections or errors in published work.

    Degrees of Plagiarism:

    1. Invalid source 2. Secondary source 3. Duplication 4. Paraphrasing 5. Repetitive research 6. Replication 7. Misleading attribution 8. Unethical collaboration 9. Verbatim plagiarism 10. Complete plagiarism

    Plagiarism Checker Software:

    1. Urkund

    Action/Penalty against defaulters: Any violation of the rule and other issue, complaints regarding plagiarism attracts disciplinary action to be imposed by committee within one month from the day of complaint. Depending on the type of acts and violation of code of ethics, suitable penalty or punishment against defaulters shall be recommended by the review committee.


    Procedures for Investigation of Research Misconduct

    1. Investigation of proceedings

    Without prejudice to the right and duty of Departments to address and assess issues of plagiarism in the course of the regular assessment of a paper presented by a researcher, any person may submit a complaint about academic misconduct to the Principal. Such complaints need to be supported by sufficient evidence.


    The Principal will decide whether the allegation is serious enough to warrant an investigation by the Ethics Committee. If the allegation concerns a PhD researcher, the Principal may also delegate this task to the Head of the department (s). The initiator of the allegation shall be asked to set out in writing the basis of the allegation.

    The Ethics Committee may carry out:

  • a preliminary investigation to ascertain whether there is sufficient substance to the allegation as to warrant a more thorough investigation;
  • a formal inquiry which may include the consultation or involvement of external experts when needed.
  • 2. Investigation

    Where possible, the investigation will include examination of all relevant documentation, including, but not limited to: relevant research data; laboratory notebooks; computer files; other materials; proposals; publications; correspondence; and memoranda, insofar as this is necessary for the investigation and compatible with the Institute Data Protection Policy.


    The Chair of the Ethics Committee may invite internal or external experts who are not involved in the disputed matter and who are not members of the Committee to attend meetings. Interviews shall be conducted with the complainant and the respondent. Other individuals involved in making the allegations and individuals who might have information regarding key aspects of the allegations may also be heard by the Committee.

    The respondent has the right to be assisted or represented by a member of the Institute of his/her own choice. Details of the allegations and the investigation will be made available only to the Ethics Committee. All individuals interviewed during the investigation will be asked to respect the confidential nature of the investigation.


    3. Investigation report and recommendations

    The Ethics Committee will produce a report stating: the procedures under which the formal investigation was conducted; how and, where appropriate, from whom information was obtained; the findings of the committee and the basis for these; a summary of the views of the respondent; and a description of any recommendations made by the committee.

    The respondent will receive a copy of the investigation report and have an opportunity to comment on it. Comments may be submitted to the Ethics Committee and will be attached as an addendum to the investigation report. If disciplinary actions are recommended, the Ethics Committee will communicate to the internal Disciplinary Committee what action, if any, should be taken as a result of the investigation.

    Based on the investigation report and recommendations of the Ethics Committee, the Disciplinary Committee may decide on sanctions (when considered appropriate).


    Sanctions

    Sanctions, as recommended by the Ethics Committee and as decided by the Disciplinary and/or Disciplinary Appeals Committee, may include (but are not limited to):

    1. Resubmission of an assignment or academic work.

    2. A failing grade for the examination or specific assigned exercise; or a failing grade for the course as a whole, depending on the importance of the work to the overall course grade.

    3. A letter of reprimand, issued by the chair of the Disciplinary Committee, which may or may not be recorded on the scholar’s file.

    4. Suspension from the programme.

    5. Suspension of grant/contract.

    6. Revocation of a degree or certificate.

    Any sanctions, or decisions not to resort to them, are without prejudice to the academic assessment of a researcher’s paper by the Department in question, and to the decisions by the Entrance Board.