In 58 cases, no misconduct was identified following the review. In 38 cases, a violation was identified and sanctions were imposed depending on the extent of the violation. These range from cautionary letters, requests for corrections/retractions, and application bans at the FWF to project cancellations and repayment of funds.
42% of the cases were detected by the FWF, 58% of the suspected cases were brought to the FWF’s attention by external whistleblowers.
| Type of alleged violation | 2008–2024 |
| Authorship without contribution | 1 |
| Discrimination in professional advancement | 3 |
| Falsification or invention of research findings | 3 |
| Obstruction/sabotage of research | 7 |
| Multiple use of own research results without appropriate citation (self-plagiarism) | 17 |
| Use of third-party ideas without indication of origin | 34 |
| Insufficient documentation of research findings | 9 |
| Denial of authorship despite contribution | 10 |
| Alteration of research findings | 3 |
| Violation of research ethics | 5 |
| Misuse of research funds | 14 |
| Miscellaneous | 6 |
| Total | 112 |
| Type of alleged violation | Procedure in progress | Procedure discontinued | Cautionary letter | Corrections/ Retractions | Application | Repayments of funds | Project cancellation |
| Authorship without contribution | 1 | ||||||
| Discrimination in professional advancement | 3 | ||||||
| Falsification or invention of research findings | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Obstruction/sabotage of research | 7 | ||||||
| Multiple use of own research results without making this clear (self-plagiarism) | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||
| Use of third-party ideas without indication of origin | 2 | 18 | 11 | 3 | |||
| Insufficient documentation of research findings | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Denial of authorship despite contribution | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Alteration of research findings | 3 | ||||||
| Violation of research ethics | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Misuse of research funds | 1 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Miscellaneous | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 16 | 58 | 25 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
A discontinuation generally means that there were insufficient grounds for further action. It should be noted that the FWF, as an independent body, strives to take the interests of both the complainant and the researcher concerned into account. This means that all information is investigated without prejudice.
Application bans range from one to several years.
In 17 cases, the allegation was so serious that it was referred to the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity (OeAWI) and measures were taken on the basis of the recommendations made by the OeAWI.
| Disciplines | Quantity |
| Mathematics | 5 |
| Computer Science | 2 |
| Physics | 16 |
| Chemistry | 7 |
| Geosciences | 3 |
| Technical sciences | 8 |
| Biology | 26 |
| Medicine | 17 |
| Social sciences | 8 |
| Humanities | 19 |
| Other disciplines | 1 |
The distribution by discipline corresponds roughly to the distribution of applications submitted to the FWF.