Course Identification

DESCRIPTION

A thorough awareness of issues relating to research ethics and research integrity are essential to producing excellent research. This course will provide a brief introduction to the demands of research ethics and integrity. It will then focus on the responsible conduct of scientific research and address the core concepts that comprise scientific misconduct. Well-known examples of scientific misconduct will be employed to demonstrate the harms of such behavior.

CONTENT

Meeting 1

• Introduction to research ethics: locating ethics in research
• History of research integrity
• Definitions of research misconduct

Meeting 2

• Fabrication
• Falsification
• Plagiarism

Meeting 3

• Data management
• Publication ethics (criteria for authorship, good publication practice, peer review)

Meeting 4

• Mentor-Mentee relationship
• Conflict of interests
• Written exam

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1. Acquire an overview of the ethics of planning, conducting, and reporting of scientific research;
2. Comprehend the main standards of research integrity and responsible conduct of research and assimilate their importance;
3. Understand the issue of scientific misconduct (i.e., fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism), why it occurs and how;
4. Become familiar with prevention strategies and sanctions of scientific misconduct;
5. Appreciate the notions of public trust in research and social responsibility of the researcher.

• On Being a Scientist – A Guide to Responsible Conduct of Research, (3^rd edition), National Academies Press: Washington DC, 2009.
• European Textbook on Ethics in Research, European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, Brussels, 2010.
• Interactive Movie on Research Misconduct: http://ori.dhhs.gov/thelab