A researcher at the University of Nevada at Reno whose complaints about animal care led to a federal fine three years ago is the subject of a second disciplinary hearing since he lodged those complaints, this one involving allegations of plagiarism and misuse of research funds, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

Hussein S. Hussein, an associate professor in the department of animal biotechnology, says the investigation is part of a “cycle of terror” and accuses the university of retaliating against him.

The university paid a fine of $11,400 in 2005 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited it for a total of 46 violations related to animal-care practices and documentation. The university disputed some of the findings but paid the fine to end the case. It also conducted a disciplinary hearing against Mr. Hussein, saying he had been wrong to bring in a local veterinarian to examine pigs that he thought were being abused. That hearing was dismissed by the university’s president at the time.

The new disciplinary hearing is examining allegations that Mr. Hussein plagiarized work done by graduate students and that he kept a portion of his research money that should have gone to the university for indirect costs. A committee of four faculty members and a special hearing officer listened to three days of testimony last week in the case, the Gazette-Journal reported. Among those who testified were two students who defended the professor, saying Mr. Hussein had credited their work in published papers and in conference presentations.

Mr. Hussein said the only time he had not included the students’ names was on drafts containing portions of their work that he sent to collaborating researchers for review. He also told the newspaper that the research funds in question were gifts for nonspecific use that he believed were not subject to the indirect-costs requirement. —Charles Huckabee