Ethical Research Policy

HUC expects its faculty members to be accountable for academic integrity and to uphold high standards of professional ethics. They must use the concepts of justice, truthfulness, fairness, and respect for others in all aspects of their profession, particularly when making judgments with ethical quandaries. They must ensure that people are treated fairly and are not discriminated against, abused, or exploited. They must respect the rights of others and avoid causing harm to anyone. They must appreciate cultural diversity and recognize fundamental human rights. They must keep in confidence all privileged information gained while employed at HUC. They must attempt to be fair and objective when working as referees.

HUC expects that all faculty members engaging in research activities to adhere strictly to the ethical practices particularly during data collection, analysis and presentation, and in the dissemination of conclusions and findings as per internationally acceptable standards. Also, any scholarly work produced by HUC faculty members must be free from any unfair practice. In HUC, the policy on human subjects in research relates to seeking permission to be a part of a sample voluntarily and respects the rights and welfare of human subjects which are covered under the ambit of legal and privacy requirements of the region. There are ethical guidelines that protect the researcher and community. In case of a breach of ethical practices, the penalty varies depending on the unethical practices, and it can go up to the end of the career of the researcher.

This policy aims to ensure that scientific publications, patents, and applications for research funding fully adhere to the guidelines of HUC, and that all faculty members (full-time and part-time) and students are aware of these guidelines.

DRI will facilitate organizing regular workshops/webinars for faculty members, staff, and students about patents, and copyright issues. The committee will make sure that Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 on Copyrights and related rights is understood and followed by everyone in the institution. Any violation of these issues will be reported and handled by the Disciplinary Action Committee.

• Policies related to ethical considerations in research, including, as appropriate, the use of human, children, and animal subjects
• All applications involving animals, people, human tissue, or animal tissue must go through a thorough screening process such as :

1. all forms of clinical studies.
2. These compare several types of interventions to control groups.
3. biological investigations
4. cell culture research
5. material analyses
6. Research on behavior and surveys (including online surveys)
7. systematic evaluations
8. studies on the epidemiology of culture, social concerns, disease prevalence, and risk
9. analysis of factors, etc.

1. Ensure all researches emanating from HUC seek prior permissions from the human subject to be a part of the sample and the same should be documented.
2. Ensure all the data collected from the research subject comply with the privacy laws and should be exclusively used for research purposes only
3. Ensure the information relating to the subject may be revealed only to Government officials subject to an order from the court.
4. Ensure only trained investigators will be permitted to be part of the survey team.
5. Ensure compliance with the cultural sentiments of the region.
6. Regularly monitor the research process.
7. Authors should not add research collaborators merely to receive money
8. All authors whose name stated on the paper should have a clear scientific contribution to the paper.
9. Any conflict in the authorship or order of authorship that cannot be amicably resolved shall be referred to DRI to resolve.

Research ethics & reward committee is formed based on recommendation of the President. The committee comprises of Head-RI, Associate Dean-SOB and Associate Dean-SOC. The committee is chaired by Head-RI with the following responsibilities related to ensuring ethical intellectual contributions are added:

• Performs review on research protocols and supporting documents. The research will be approved or disapproved based on its ethical acceptability.
• Progress research report since last approval.
• Handles factual statement of unethical practices in faculty research.
• Seeks written explanation from researcher under investigation.
• Initiates an investigation on arising matters.
• Collect evidence or facts during investigation.
• Reports findings to the President for review and decision-making.