A Resource on Research Ethics

Greetings again. The Texas spring wildflowers have now arrived. Something else welcome has also arrived: the new (third) edition of the report On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research.

As noted Friday in a news release, this report “offers researchers—particularly early-career scientists and their mentors” guidance on doing research ethically, avoiding misconduct, and deciding what to do in difficult ethical situations.

Conveniently, On Being a Scientist can be read online for free. Also, PDF and printed copies of the report can be bought from the website.

Of particular interest to AuthorAID, On Being a Scientist includes material about mentoring and about publication issues (such as plagiarism and authorship). Among other topics discussed are treatment of data, conduct of research with human participants or animal subjects, and sharing of research results.

Technology has changed since the second edition of this report appeared in 1995. The new edition discusses some issues that have therefore arisen. It also presents some recent cases of misconduct.

In addition, the book presents fictional—but realistic—cases in which beginning researchers face difficult issues. These cases can be excellent for group discussion. Written discussions of them appear near the end of the report.

I’ve often assigned On Being a Scientist to classes. Now I look forward to assigning the new edition. I hope many of you also will read, share, and discuss it. If you have comments about this resource, feel free to post them here.