Welcome to Academic Integrity and Research Ethics (AIRE)


We are a campus-wide service housed in Graduate Studies and strongly supported by the Provost's Office and the Office of the Vice President for Research.

We provide university-wide services for the community of scholars in research ethics and academic integrity supporting the university’s ongoing reputation as an institution of research excellence.

Driven by the university’s Scientific Integrity Plan (SIP), AIRE promotes standards and informed pedagogy for instruction of the responsible conduct of research (RCR).  In addition to fostering a community of integrity, AIRE program RCR instruction complies with regulations of the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and other agencies who support, promote, or require research ethics education as part of their funding requirements.


Our services include:

  • Certification
  • Consultation
  • Instruction
    • Tailored presentations for students, faculty, staff, or research groups and coordination with research methods course instructors to include AIRE into their syllabi
  • Research on Research Ethics
    • Staff are involved in studies of “deep learning” and effective RCR instruction especially in cross-cultural and “normal misbehavior” contexts
  • Guidance
    • Development and guidance for faculty (and other instructors) in the creation of their own discipline-specific academic integrity and research ethics curriculum
  • Compliance
    • Tracking of participants who are supported by federal funds requiring RCR certification
    • Keep informed on issues of human and animal institutional committees; assist as needed with issues of research misconduct.
  • Marketing
    • Communication with UNM community on upcoming workshops, courses, or symposia on research ethics and opportunities for certification
  • Collaboration
    • Actively seek other graduate student and researcher service programs to encourage outreach on research ethics.

Cheating and other misbehaviors can result from pressures of graduate school, competition, high-stakes assignment, and by examining breaches in integrity such as plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication (the definition of scientific misconduct). Integrity includes the positive behaviors of keeping promises and agreements, acting with sincerity and honesty, and striving to be consistent in thought and action. For more academic integrity information and resources, click here.

Research ethics is an area distinct from biomedical ethics and discipline-centered professional ethics. It promotes acceptable behavior among those who conduct research or other scholarly activity, thereby encouraging dependable and valid generation of knowledge.

Federal agencies and oversight committees have determined areas of education that new professionals and students should know—areas which AIRE teaches in classes and workshops across campus.

Although research ethics is generally considered blind to cultural or community influences, humans are inevitably influenced by culture and community despite strong pressure to be objective. Research ethics discussions give voice to research/scholarly practitioners as our humanity is woven throughout responsible conduct of research content areas. 

AIRE works with faculty and members of the community with experience and interest in research ethics. Faculty and administrative collaborators either work to include research ethics as part of their curriculum, teach research ethics actively, or set aside time for AIRE faculty to teach in their classroom (ethics-across-the-curriculum). These collaborations have gone a long way to create a culture of research excellence by increasing awareness of research ethics and the importance of academic integrity.

AIRE Faculty & Administrative Collaborators (updated 2021)

  • Dr. David Bennahum, Scholar in Residence at the Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics; Professor Emeritus, Internal Medicine
  • Dr. Shawn Berman, Professor of Business and Society Strategic Management, Anderson School of Management
  • Dr. Heather Caravan, Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, co-Director, Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program
  • Dr. Angela Catena, Title IX coordinator Office of Equal Opportunity
  • Dr. Julie Coonrod, Interim Dean, Anderson School of Business; Professor, Civil Engineering
  • Dr. Sarah Erickson, Professor, Department of Psychology
  • Dr. Ellen Fisher, Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry
  • Dr. Charles Fleddermann, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering
  • Dr. John Gluck, Professor Emeritus, Psychology; Affiliate Faculty, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University
  • Dr. Sang Han, Professor and Director, Nanoscience and Microsystems Graduate Program (NSMS) Regents' Professor, Associate Chair of Chemical & Biological Engineering
  • Dr. Carolyn J. Hushman, Assistant Professor, Department of Education Psychology
  • Dr. Maria Lane, Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies
  • Dr. Diane Marshall, Associate Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, College of Arts and Sciences; Professor, Biology
  • Dr. Barbara S. McCrady, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology and Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA);
  • Linda Melville, Associate Director, International Student & Scholar Services, Global Education Office (GEO)
  • Dr. Kelly Miller, Professor, Department of Biology, (PREP Post-baccalaureate Research & Education program
  • Dr. Melanie Moses, Professor, Department of Computer Science
  • Dr. Deborah Rifenbary, Associate Professor (retired), College of Education and Human Sciences
  • Dr. Ricardo Romero, Director McNair Scholars & Research Opportunity Program
  • Dr. Irene Salinas, Associate Professor, Department of Biology and Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology (CETI)
  • Dr. Paul R. Schwoebel, Research Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Dr. Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, Professor, Department of Biology, co-Director, Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program

Departments

  • School of Architecture (Dr. Jordan James)
  • Linguistics (Dr. Jill Morford)
  • Chemistry (Dr. Jeremy Edwards, Dr. Stephen Cabaniss, Dr. Yi He, Dr. Martin Kirk)