January 27Research Ethics

Ethical Conduct of Research

• Many issues to consider• Eastern Michigan University has a comprehensive

online course/discussion that I find helpful:http://www.rcr.emich.edu/index.html

• Lab management (equipment, people, money)• Communication skills (written, oral; formal

informal)• “Politics” (knowledge about who does what, who

is who, where the funding comes from, who has influence)

Ethical Conduct of Research• Protection and Use of Human Subjects in

Research• Conflict of Interest in University Research• Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing, and

Ownership• Animal Care and Use in Research• Research Misconduct• Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship• Mentoring/Trainee Responsibilities• Peer Review• Collaborative Research

Research Misconduct• Few of us will be guilty of egregious misconduct

as in the curious case of Hendrik Schön (Bell Labs, 2002), but we all need to guard against small instances that put science on a “slippery slope” to the same end.

• Trust is essential – if we cannot trust people’s data, then we never believe anything they say. This is an abuse of the privilege of being a respected member of the community, of taxpayer’s and other investors’ money, and of the trust of society.

• Careers take years to build and days to collapse.

Research Misconduct

• What did he do?• How was it found out?• What was the scientific community’s

response?• What is the fallout for society? For physics?

For his company? For his co-authors? For himself?

Research Misconduct

• Falsification of data• Generating experimental data from a model• Poor record keeping• Destruction of data• Failure to discuss data with colleagues (and

they were not aggressive in questioning)• Failure to publish retractions/corrections after

questioning