chapter 5 Ethical Issues in Research and Scholarship

chapter 5 Ethical Issues in Research and Scholarship

Chapter Outline • • • Seven areas of scientific dishonesty Ethical issues regarding copyright Model for considering scientific misconduct Working with faculty Protecting human participants Protecting animal subjects

Ethical Question: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? • Plato: For the greater good. • Shakespeare: To cross or not to cross, that is the question. • Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends on your frame of reference. • Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees. • Graduate student: Was that regular or extracrispy?

Definition of Scientific Misconduct Scientific misconduct is fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Federal Resistor October 14, 1999

Seven Areas of Scientific Dishonesty 1. Plagiarism—using the ideas, writings, and drawings of others as your own 2. Fabrication and falsification—making up or altering data 3. Nonpublication of data, also called “cooking data” 4. Faulty data-gathering procedures 5. Poor data storage and retention (continued)

Seven Areas of Scientific Dishonesty 6. Misleading authorship—who should be an author? – Technicians do not necessarily become joint authors. – Authorship should involve only those who contribute directly. – Discuss authorship before the project! (continued)

Seven Areas of Scientific Dishonesty (continued) 7. Sneaky publication practices – Joint publication • • • Graduate student and faculty Two or more graduate students Two or more faculty members – Authorship of a thesis

Ethical Issues Regarding Copyright • What is “fair use” of materials? – – Purpose: commercial or educational? Nature: is copying expected? Amount: how much is copied? Effect: what is the influence on the market? • For teaching: Articles, chapters, overheads, slides, Power. Point presentations • For research: Figures and tables, standardized tests, questionnaires, previously published scholarly work • If you are unsure, ask permission!

Model for Considering Scientific Misconduct • Scientific misconduct Sanctions • Scientific mistakes Remedial activities • Causes of scientific misconduct – – Pressure to publish Need to complete graduate work Desire to continue funding Desire for academic rewards

Working With Faculty • Faculty advisors or mentors should treat graduate students as colleagues. • Selecting an advisor or mentor: – Read what she or he has written. – Talk to other students. • Changing your advisor or mentor

Ethical Issues in Human and Animal Research • Institutional review boards • Humans – Informed consent – Human participants committee • Animals – Justification – Value of animal models • Conflicts of interest – Funded research projects – Using students (classes) and volunteers

Protecting Human Participants • What should human research participants expect? – – Right to privacy or nonparticipation Right to remain anonymous Right to confidentiality Right to experimenter responsibility

Elements of Informed Consent (From RQES) • A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, including identification of those that are experimental • A description of the attendant discomforts and risks • A description of the benefits to be expected • A disclosure of appropriate alternative procedures that would be advantageous for the participant • An offer to answer any inquiries concerning the procedures • An instruction that the participant is free to withdraw at any time

Use of Animals in Research • Animals have been essential for every advance in medicine. —Clifford Barger, MD, Harvard Medical School • Animal research has contributed to virtually eliminating many infectious diseases, including polio, rheumatic fever, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever. • 18 -22 million vertebrates are used each year in research, education, and testing—less than 1% of the number killed for food. (continued)

Use of Animals in Research (continued) • Two thirds of the dogs and cats used in animal research come from shelters; for every one used in research, 100 are killed for lack of a home. • Two thirds of the research projects that lead to the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine involved animal experiments.

Example: Plagiarism In preparing her thesis introduction, Graduate Assistant Christina periodically takes multiple sentences verbatim from some of her sources (her attitude is, “I couldn’t have written it better myself”). • Is she wrong to do this? • If she provides a reference to her sources at the end of the paragraph, is she still wrong?

Fabrication or Falsification of Data • Professor Wade has strength-training data on 20 elderly participants. As he was madly processing his data to meet the ACSM abstract deadline, he realized that the sample did not show a significant increase in strength. Examining his data more closely revealed that 15 participants did improve, but 5 did not. He decided that they must not have adhered to the training, so he dropped them and now has a significant increase in strength. (continued)

Fabrication or Falsification of Data (continued) • Has Professor Wade acted ethically? • How long should you keep your data for others to see? • Are you obligated to provide your data on request?

Authorship Professor Conan Barbarian is an icon in the field of gerontology. He is the director of the Institute of Gerontological Research at Jellystone University, a highly funded research lab with lots of graduate students. Professor Barbarian requires that he be listed as an author on all manuscripts based on research completed in his lab. • Is Professor Barbarian justified in his demand, or is this an example of “ego gone wild? ”

Changing Your Major Professor Graduate Assistant (GA) Lee is interested in the mechanical behavior of muscle and was accepted at CU to study with Professor Silverman, an expert in this area. After a year in the program, the chemistry between GA Lee and Professor Silverman is not so great. Lee also notes that a GA friend is working with Professor Moran, an expert on muscle energetics, and getting some travel money. Lee wants to switch to Professor Moran but keep working on muscle mechanics. (continued)

Changing Your Major Professor (continued) • Should GA Lee propose a mentor change? • If so, how should he go about this? • What are GA Lee’s obligations to Professor Silverman?