§ 93.516 Standard and burden of proof.

(a) Standard of proof. The standard of proof is the preponderance of the evidence.

(b) Burden of proof. (1) ORI bears the burden of proving the findings of research misconduct. The destruction, absence of, or respondent's failure to provide research records adequately documenting the questioned research is evidence of research misconduct where ORI establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the respondent intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly had research records and destroyed them, had the opportunity to maintain the records but did not do so, or maintained the records and failed to produce them in a timely manner and the respondent's conduct constitutes a significant departure from accepted practices of the relevant research community.