Research Ethics and Pearls of Wisdom Marsha Woodbury

Research Ethics and Pearls of Wisdom Marsha Woodbury, Ph. D. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign marsha@illinois. edu

R-e-s-p-e-c-t • Find out what it means to me…

Showing Respect, Being Professional • Cell phones • Laptops • How to act with guest speakers -Close your laptops -Ask good questions (read up on speaker)

Lawyer Joke After drafting a will for an elderly client, the lawyer announced a fee of $100. The client gave the lawyer a $100 bill. After the client left, the lawyer saw that the client had in fact paid $200, as two of the client's $100 bills had stuck together. Looking at the $100 overpayment, an ethical question arose in the lawyer's mind: _____

Oxymorons • • • Advanced Beginner School Vacation Local Network Science Fiction Business Ethics Graduate Student

What we will talk about • Advice on taking care of yourself in the academic world • Ethical work issues you might encounter • Tips on how to do research

Advice on taking care of yourself in the academic world

The Grad Student Advisor • Experimental Collar

Your rights Grad students and post-docs are vulnerable.

Prospective grad student wants to be shown around the lab. from: http: //www. phdcomics. com/

“Don’t do it!! Take a job!! Have a life!!” from: http: //www. phdcomics. com/

“Just smile and nod. He’s watching us. Run and don’t ever look back. ” from: http: //www. phdcomics. com/

“See that puddle? That’s our first year masters student. Please take me with you…” from: http: //www. phdcomics. com/

And he’s coming to speak here! Academic Stimulus Package Jorge Cham • Friday, Oct. 15 at 7: 45 p. m. • Do not miss him!!!

Losing my TAs • The department lost two good students that I worked with one year. Why? • Ph. D. changed to M. S. and away they went. • Why?

Get publications, don’t constantly change topics • If your advisor is being vague, swapping your research focus, basically slowing you down, think about switching advisors!

Profs hiring bright grad students for start-ups, etc. • Is it in your best interest to leave school? – Short term gain, long term benefits • What’s the value of a Ph. D. ? • Is the current economic outlook the permanent outlook?

Publications, Credit Authorship—Who did the work, who gets credit

Research, Writing Help Advice on Research and Writing http: //www. yale. edu/eeb /stearns/advice. htm

How to survive Getting a support group, tending to the emotional factors. http: //www. cs. indiana. ed u/mit. research. how. t o/section 3. 13. html

Sharing Stories • Trusting your workmates— password protection on your computer • Trusting you advisor and committee members • And your stories…

• Ethical work issues that you might encounter

Email I received in 2009 The University-wide procedures for addressing particular instances of unethical conduct in research and publication are available on the Web at: http: //www. vpaa. uillinois. edu/Policies/integrit yresearch/index. cfm

Academic misconduct, as defined in the University Policy includes, but is not limited to: a. Fabrication or falsification of data, including intentionally misleading, selective, or deliberately false reporting of credentials or other academically related information

That means… • Never falsify information on your resume, and always supply relevant information Example: • Reveal where you worked previously if it has any connection to your research and that of someone else you worked for • Otherwise, it will look like you stole your data

• b. Unacknowledged appropriation of the work of others, including plagiarism, the abuse of confidentiality with respect to unpublished materials or misappropriation of physical materials

• c. Evasion of or intentional failure after notice by the University or federal, state or another appropriate agency to comply with research regulations or requirements, including but not limited to those applying to human subjects, laboratory animals, new drugs, radioactive materials, genetically altered organisms, and to safety

• Other conduct which seriously deviates from accepted ethical standards in scholarship. Differences of interpretation, judgment or honest error do not constitute academic misconduct.

The Eyes Upon You Plagiarism—Who reviews your work and could they steal it? It isn’t just you stealing from others, but people stealing from you!

Trust—Bad research results in loss of public trust, interpersonal trust.

So… • Data must be correct and carefully stored. • Keep it at least 5 years from the date of publication. • Your department should store the data in case of an allegation of falsification of data. • Data related to publications must be available for discussion with other researchers.

Remember, • Don’t publish multiple articles based on the same data. • Tell the publishers if you submit the same thing to more than one of them. • Don’t talk to the press until your peers have had a chance to examine your work.

from “FINAGLE'S LAWS”: In any collection of data, the figure most obviously correct, beyond all need of checking, is the mistake. Once a job is fouled up, anything done to improve it only makes it worse. http: //www. xs 4 all. nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/8_1. html#subindex

FURTHER HINTS ON WRITE-UPS No one you ask for help will see the mistakes either. Any nagging intruder who stops by with unsought advice will see the mistakes immediately. http: //www. xs 4 all. nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/8_1. html#subindex

You should • NOT list authors without their permission (scandal) • NOT attribute work to others who have not in fact contributed to the research (scandal) • DO acknowledge work primarily produced by a research student or assistant (be fair)

When to speak up… Whistleblowers and the consequences A computer programmer testifies

Tips on how to do research

Is your work doing any good? Social usefulness Show flaws in electronic voting Artificial limbs Robotic help with limbs Adding brain power, ending privacy

A Point to Ponder Human subjects— Mental health is very important. Privacy and other rights of the subjects need to be considered. Internet research is delicate

Effect on humanity Think about AI and replacing humans, nanotechnology and the future

More about this topic • Online Ethics http: //onlineethics. org/essays/research /index. html • Video of Bill Joy Panel http: //www. meta-library. net/gnrframe. html Piled Higher and Deeper http: //www. phdcomics. com/

Good Luck!! Remember, • • Represent the University of Illinois well Watch your back Be courteous Come to your deans with questions!! Contact me: marsha@illinois. edu