1. Preamble

Acharya Institute of Graduate Studies (AIGS) is committed to fostering a culture of intellectual inquiry and academic integrity. This policy serves as a framework to ensure that all research activities conducted by faculty and students align with global standards of ethics, honesty, and social responsibility.

2. Institutional Ethical Review Committee (IERC)

The IERC is established to provide oversight, guidance, and evaluation of research proposals to ensure compliance with ethical mandates.

2.1 Objectives

• To safeguard the rights, dignity, and welfare of research participants.
• To maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and prevent research misconduct.
• To provide training and resources for faculty and students regarding ethical research practices.

2.2 Composition of the Committee: The committee is chaired by the Principal and consists of a diverse panel to ensure multi-disciplinary oversight.

S.No	Role	Responsibility
01	Chairperson	Oversight of policy implementation and final decision-making.
02	Coordinator	Managing committee logistics, documentation, and review schedules.
03	Internal Members	Subject matter experts representing various academic departments.
04	External Member	Provides an unbiased, outside perspective on institutional research.
05	Legal Advisor	Ensures compliance with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and national laws.
06	Librarian	Manages plagiarism detection tools and data archival access.

2.3 Meeting Frequency: The IERC shall meet biannually (once every six months) to review ongoing projects, address grievances, and update the ethical guidelines in accordance with UGC and statutory requirements.

3. Code of Research Ethics

All members of the AIGS academic community shall adhere to the following ethical pillars:

I. Academic Integrity and Honesty

Researchers must report data, results, methods, and publication status honestly. Fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of data is considered a grave violation of institutional policy.

II. Avoidance of Plagiarism

• Originality: All work submitted must be the original contribution of the author(s).
• Attribution: Proper credit must be given to all sources used, including text, data, and ideas.
• Verification: All theses, dissertations, and research papers must undergo a mandatory plagiarism check via institutionally approved software (e.g., Turnitin/Ouriginal) before submission.

III. Integrity in Data Usage and Ownership

• Accuracy: Researchers must maintain clear and accurate records of all data collected.
• Confidentiality: Sensitive data regarding human subjects must be anonymized and protected.
• Ownership: Data generated through institutional resources remains the joint property of the researcher and AIGS, unless otherwise specified by external funding agencies.

IV. Publication Ethics

• Authorship: Credit should be limited to those who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the study.
• Non-Duplicate Submission: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is prohibited.
• Quality over Quantity: Faculty are encouraged to publish in UGC-CARE listed, Scopus, or Web of Science indexed journals, avoiding "predatory" publishers.

V. Conflict of Interest

Researchers must disclose any financial, personal, or professional bias that could influence the outcome or interpretation of their research.

VI. Research Misconduct

Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, data theft, and the violation of safety protocols. The IERC reserves the right to investigate allegations of misconduct and recommend disciplinary action to the administration.