UPDATE: UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Chris Clemons shared a message on Thursday saying they have accepted Terry Magnuson’s resignation as Vice Chancellor for Research. His final day will be Friday.
One of UNC’s leaders in research is under federal supervision for engaging in “research misconduct” while filing for grant funding.
Terry Magnuson, the university’s Vice Chancellor for Research, was cited in a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Research Integrity. The report says Magnuson “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly plagiarizing text” from three online articles and one published paper while applying for a grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Magnuson, who is also a distinguished professor and the founding chair of UNC’s Department of Genetics, was applying for funding to study “genome-wide dynamics of chromatin modifiers.” He submitted the application on March 1, 2021.
Terry Magnuson, UNC’s Vice Chancellor for Research. (Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Beth Keith, who is the associate vice chancellor in University Communications, shared a statement with Chapelboro on Wednesday regarding Magnuson’s plagiarism. She said UNC will continue to follow “standards and processes” established by the federal Office of Research Integrity.
“UNC-Chapel Hill has high professional expectations for the integrity of all research activities carried out by our faculty, staff and students,” said Keith. “The University follows a federally mandated policy regarding research misconduct, and we hold anyone involved in research activity at the University to that standard.”
UNC Media Relations did not respond to a request of whether Magnuson would lose his title as Vice Chancellor for Research. Typically, the role helps oversee the university’s billion-dollar research enterprise. In 2020, Magnuson told 97.9 The Hill that UNC ranked fifth in the U.S. for federally funded research in 2018, chiefly thanks to grants from the National Institutes of Health.
The Office of Research Integrity says it does not make research misconduct allegations public until they have been “fully investigated and confirmed.” Researchers who commit misconduct, which includes plagiarism, could be barred by the U.S. government from receiving any federal funds “for a specified period of time.” The Office of Research Integrity also says research institutions can take their own actions, like “terminating a researcher’s employment or requiring supervision of future research activities.”
In Magnuson’s case, the federal department said the UNC vice chancellor voluntarily entered a settlement agreement, which includes expanded supervision of grant applications. Magnuson agreed to have the UNC School of Medicine’s Office of Research examine his applications for plagiarism and conduct advanced reviews of any report stemming from federal funds. Additionally, Magnuson must ensure UNC submits certifications to the Office of Research Integrity confirming his data is “based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived” and no methodology is plagiarized.
The Office of Research Integrity says Magnuson’s supervision period began on February 25 and will last through January 5, 2024.
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