Education resources for guiding discussions on ethics in science

Abstract

Faculty, staff, and students at all levels of educational institutions are becoming more aware about ethical issues in the classroom and in research. As educators, it is our responsibility to provide an opportunity to discuss these issues so that future scientists will be prepared to face the many ethical challenges they may encounter. Often, unfortunately, we are reticent to engage in this discussion due solely to the lack of our own repertoire of resources regarding ethics. Thus, this summary of educational resources was compiled to promote ethics discussions in science classrooms and research programs.

Nationally, faculty, staff, and students at all levels of educational institutions are becoming more aware about ethical issues, particularly in the conductance of research. This awareness comes in part because various federal regulations require the observance of certain ethical standards in the conduct of research, as well as continuing education regarding responsible research practices. These regulations are implemented by a number of federal agencies, including the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) within the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To ensure compliance with these regulations, academic institutions have institutional review boards that review and approve research that involves humans or animals. In addition, some of these federal funding agencies such as NSF and NIH are also now requiring evidence of “ethics training” for researchers as a condition for receiving funding from them. Clearly, this is the right move, and it makes sense that individuals involved in research should have some form of ethics training.

Unfortunately, however, although federal regulations form the basis for an understanding of ethically responsible research, ethics in science should not be thought of primarily in terms of regulations and research misconduct. Regulations are restricted to what is strictly enforceable and, in this respect, focus on the avoidance or prevention of obvious wrongdoing. Although it is tempting to do so because it is easier to buy predeveloped modules that concentrate only on compliance and regulations, this approach does not address larger issues or build true understanding of the ethical issues faced by scientists today. Instead, an approach of using best practices that cover a wide array of topics should be used. This requires that faculty, staff, and students understand and reflect on the underlying principles that form the basis of ethical practice; also, they need to be able to apply this understanding and reflection concretely in the context of their interactions, classroom activities, and research. Discussion on general research topics such as plagiarism and mentorship as well as research ethics needs to be brought into the classroom and laboratory for students at all levels. Unfortunately, these topics all too often get side-stepped, not because of the lack of importance but frequently due to a lack of time or knowledge of reasonable resources. Students today need a minimum of ethics discussion as part of their undergraduate science curriculum. As educators, it is our responsibility to provide this discussion so that the scientists of the future will be prepared to face the many ethical challenges they may encounter. To help educators begin this discussion, this summary of educational resources was compiled to promote ethics discussions in science classrooms and research programs. This list is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather, it serves as an introduction to several valuable resources.

GENERAL ETHICS

Why Teach Bioethics? by C. Csongradi: www.actionbioscience.org/education/csongradi.html

This is an on-line article from the Action Bioscience website. This article discusses how we make ethical choices and why teaching bioethics can help a student's critical thinking and self-discovery process.

Teaching Ethics for Research, Scholarship, & Practice: www.research.umn.edu/ethics

Hosted at the University of Minnesota, this is a very comprehensive site with links to instructional materials on various topics such as authorship, intellectual property, data management, mentorship, etc.

Online Center for Ethics in Science and Engineering: onlineethics.org

Hosted at Case Western Reserve and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this site includes topics on specific ethical issues, six volumes of Graduate Research Ethics: Cases and Commentaries (B. Schrag, editor); Ethics in the Science Classroom (M. Prichard, T. Goldfarb); and an ethics help-line. Syllabi of science, engineering, and computer courses can be found that incorporate ethics material.

Research and Professional Ethics Program: www.fis.ncsu.edu/Grad/ethics

Hosted at North Carolina State University, this program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The site contains instructional modules, seminar notes, presentations, and links to other resources.

National Institutes of Health – Bioethics Resources on the Web: www.nih.gov/sigs/bioethics/

This website compiles a wealth of information and links regarding numerous subjects, ranging from general ethics to specific topics such as stem cell research, genetic testing, and healthcare.

Practical Ethics Center University of Montana: www.ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/montana_round1/research_ethics.html

This is an on-line research ethics course. It contains six course sections: Ethical Issues in Research, Interpersonal Responsibility, Institutional Responsibility, Professional Responsibility, Animals in Research, and Human Participation in Research.

Office of Research Integrity – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: www.ori.dhhs.gov/

This site contains downloadable handbooks on responsible conduct for research and handling scientific misconduct.

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences (1995) On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, 2nd Ed., National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

Many topics are covered in this booklet, ranging from experimental techniques, conflicts of interest, authorship, and handling violations of ethical standards to service to society. Each topic is followed by a case study example and thought-provoking questions. The appendix contains discussion of each case study.

S. G. Korenman, A. C. Shipp (1994) Teaching Responsible Conduct of Research Through A Case Study Approach: A Handbook for Instructors, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.

This is a handbook of case studies that illustrate the many ethical dilemmas that may arise in research. The case studies involve such topics as conducting research, reporting research, peer review, handling research materials and information, mentoring and laboratory supervision, misconduct, conflicts of interest, the use of human and animal subjects, and genetic research. Each topic section contains a very helpful annotated list of suggested readings. It also includes suggestions regarding research ethics course content and instructional methods.

G. McGee (1996) Young scientists need to feel a personal stake in ethics, Chron. Higher Educ. B3.

McGee discusses a published study that suggests that students perceive research ethics courses as an unnecessary nuisance and that students are not going to be persuaded to avoid fraud and plagiarism by a few hours of ethics lectures. He suggests that unless students feel a personal stake in the integrity of science, they may still break ethical standards. He offers a different approach to teaching ethics in which the focus in on what the university and the professors owe to the students, instead of the reverse. He lists a “Protege's Bill of Rights,” which, he states, should provide an environment conducive to ethical research and healthy relationships between students and faculty.

R. Penslar (1995) Research Ethics: Cases and Materials, Indiana University Press, Indianapolis.

This book contains hypothetical cases on topics such as plagiarism, confidentiality, fraud and misconduct, conflict of interest, access to research materials, obligations of mentors, data reporting, and the use of human and animal subjects in research. The cases are followed by discussion questions. It also contains an annotated bibliography of additional resources.

A. Weston, (2002) A Practical Companion to Ethics, 2nd Ed., Oxford University Press, New York.

As the title states, this is a very practical, helpful book. It discusses the definition of ethics and why one should be concerned with ethics. It also contains some very useful problem-solving strategies and information on how to write an ethics paper. It is easily readable and concise.

MENTOR/MENTEE RELATIONSHIPS

Professional Development Programs: Research Ethics and Academic Integrity – Syracuse University: gradschpdprograms.syr.edu/resources/videos.php

This site contains short videos regarding various ethical issues that can be used to initiate discussion, such as data manipulation, data ownership, co-authorship, conflict of interest, choosing a mentor, and problems with a mentor. A discussion guide is also provided.

P. Boyle, R. Boice (1998) Best practices for enculturation: Collegially, mentoring, and structure, New Dir. Hig. 101, 87–94.

This paper illustrates best practices for incorporating first year students into graduate study. It emphasizes an approach that promotes collegiality and mentoring, based on program structure. This article is part of this volume's overall emphasis on “The Experience of Being in Graduate School: An Exploration.”

M. C. Brown, G. L. Davis, S. McClendon (1999) Mentoring students of color: Myths, models, and modes, Peabody J. Educ. 74, 105–118.

This article examines the requirements for mentoring graduate students of color. It dispels five myths about such mentoring, explores mentoring models, and recommends three methods for individuals who wish to mentor minority graduate students: “academic midwifery,” “role modeling,” and “frientoring.”

C. M. Fairbanks, D. Freedman, C. Kahn (2000) The role of effective mentors in learning to teach, J. Teach. Ed. 51, 102–112.

The aspects of successful mentoring are explored in this paper. Student teachers and their mentors attended monthly workshops during which they identified effective mentoring characteristics. Evidence for these characteristics was obtained from dialogue journals, interviews, workshop materials, and videotapes of conferences.

J. Jipson, N. Paley (2000) Because no one gets there alone: Collaboration as co-mentoring, Theory into Practice 39, 36–42.

Jipson and Paley describe their long time, collaborative, co-mentoring relationship that developed between the two university professors who were good friends before being collaborators. They explain how co-mentoring creates an innovative equal plane for the development of insights and understandings that helped them search for and choose each other in different situations. They discuss four metaphors or mantras that arose from the process.

J. V. Kartje (1996) O mentor! My mentor! Peabody J. Educ. 71, 114–125.

Kartje summarizes information on mentoring in higher education. She acknowledges that it is difficult to define mentoring because research suggests that concepts of mentoring and of mentoring relationships are very different. She also states that mentoring occurs in a variety of situations.

National Academy of Sciences (1997) Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

This clearly written guide is intended for faculty members and administrators who advise and mentor students of science and engineering. It summarizes elements that are common to successful mentoring relationships and provides tips to improve mentoring styles; examples of good and poor mentoring; facts about the context of mentoring; and chapter summary points.

C. Shellito, K. Shea, G. Weissmann, A. Mueller-Solger, W. Davis (2001) Successful mentoring of undergraduate researchers: Tips for creating positive student research experiences, J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 30, 460–464.

This article presents the findings of an undergraduate researcher survey that aspired to determine the qualities of a successful mentor. It includes a list of suggestions and tips for a successful undergraduate mentoring experience.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism.org: www.plagiarism.org

This website was designed to “help put a stop to digital plagiarism.” It contains educational information such as handouts for students regarding plagiarism, statistics on the prevalence of plagiarism, as well as research resources for students and educators. It also provides an on-line service that checks uploaded student papers against a large data base for evidence of plagiarism and provides a report of the results. Downloaded papers are not recirculated, thus preventing their reuse.

M. Davis (1993) Of babbage and kings: A study of a plagiarism complaint, Accountability Res. 2, 273–286.

This article examines a real situation of failure to acknowledge the work of another and the problems faced by the original worker as they tried to obtain this acknowledgment. It illustrates the bias toward “nonacademics” and discusses lessons that can be learned from this circumstance. It also demonstrates the need for better procedures to deal with such issues.

R. A. Harris (2001) The Plagiarism Handbook: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting and Dealing with Plagiarism, Pyrczak Printing, Los Angeles.

This useful book contains chapters on educating yourself about plagiarism, educating your students, specific ideas for constructing assignments to prevent plagiarism, and strategies for detecting plagiarism. The appendices include valuable student activities, teaching resources, information on internet search engines, term paper “mills,” additional web links, and article references. It also contains many cartoons illustrating various situations involving plagiarism.

M. C. LaFollette, (1992) Stealing into Print: Fraud, Plagiarism, and Misconduct in Scientific Publishing, University of California Press, Los Angeles.

LaFollette discusses “scientific fraud” in today's society and how it may alter the distribution of scientific knowledge. He also classifies various scientific misconduct violations based on harm and intent, misconduct by authors (data misrepresentation, plagiarism, misrepresentation of authorship, etc), misconduct by referees, and misconduct by editors. Topics ranging from whistleblowing, evidence of misconduct and investigation, and future actions are also considered.