What is research ethics

Only a few RECs are dealing with research outside the medical sector and operational guidelines for RECs to review research are existing only in the biomedical field. Against this background ENERI will strengthen activities of education and training in this field and foster the development of and compliance with joint rules and norms. This is to improve the awareness of ethical standards in the research community taking into account the diversity of stakeholders.

Any work carried out by staff or students for the purposes of teaching, research or other activities while representing the institution off-site. Please complete the Health and Safety processes established within your Faculty before commencing your fieldwork. For research involving fieldwork a Fieldwork Risk Assessment Form must be completed. Within the materials there are six videos each accompanied by a booklet that provides the video transcript, extra resources and example case studies; each video is also accompanied by a quiz to reinforce understanding.

The training has been developed and made available across the sector, by the University of Dundee. Training materials are available to everyone from final year undergraduate dissertation students through to experienced research staff.

The structure of the training is designed to allow you to dip in and out of the topics that are relevant to you and your current level of experience, rather than to be digested as a whole. Understanding ethics. Definitions of research and ethics Key ethical considerations Health and safety. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Click the image below to find out. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older.

This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. What is Research Ethics? The following is a general summary of some ethical principles: Honesty: Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status.

Objectivity: Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research. Integrity: Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.

Carefulness: Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers.

Openness: Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas. After considering all of these questions, one still might find it difficult to decide what to do. If this is the case, then it may be appropriate to consider others ways of making the decision, such as going with a gut feeling or intuition, seeking guidance through prayer or meditation, or even flipping a coin. Endorsing these methods in this context need not imply that ethical decisions are irrational, however.

The main point is that human reasoning plays a pivotal role in ethical decision-making but there are limits to its ability to solve all ethical dilemmas in a finite amount of time. Read about U. Most academic institutions in the US require undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate students to have some education in the responsible conduct of research RCR. Many academic institutions outside of the US have also developed educational curricula in research ethics.

Those of you who are taking or have taken courses in research ethics may be wondering why you are required to have education in research ethics. You may believe that you are highly ethical and know the difference between right and wrong.

You would never fabricate or falsify data or plagiarize. Indeed, you also may believe that most of your colleagues are highly ethical and that there is no ethics problem in research..

If you feel this way, relax. No one is accusing you of acting unethically. Indeed, the evidence produced so far shows that misconduct is a very rare occurrence in research, although there is considerable variation among various estimates.

The rate of misconduct has been estimated to be as low as 0. See Shamoo and Resnik , cited above. Clearly, it would be useful to have more data on this topic, but so far there is no evidence that science has become ethically corrupt, despite some highly publicized scandals. Will education in research ethics help reduce the rate of misconduct in science? It is too early to tell. The answer to this question depends, in part, on how one understands the causes of misconduct. There are two main theories about why researchers commit misconduct.

According to the "bad apple" theory, most scientists are highly ethical. Only researchers who are morally corrupt, economically desperate, or psychologically disturbed commit misconduct.

Moreover, only a fool would commit misconduct because science's peer review system and self-correcting mechanisms will eventually catch those who try to cheat the system. In any case, a course in research ethics will have little impact on "bad apples," one might argue. According to the "stressful" or "imperfect" environment theory, misconduct occurs because various institutional pressures, incentives, and constraints encourage people to commit misconduct, such as pressures to publish or obtain grants or contracts, career ambitions, the pursuit of profit or fame, poor supervision of students and trainees, and poor oversight of researchers see Shamoo and Resnik Moreover, defenders of the stressful environment theory point out that science's peer review system is far from perfect and that it is relatively easy to cheat the system.

Erroneous or fraudulent research often enters the public record without being detected for years. Misconduct probably results from environmental and individual causes, i. In any case, a course in research ethics can be useful in helping to prevent deviations from norms even if it does not prevent misconduct. Education in research ethics is can help people get a better understanding of ethical standards, policies, and issues and improve ethical judgment and decision making.

Many of the deviations that occur in research may occur because researchers simply do not know or have never thought seriously about some of the ethical norms of research. For example, some unethical authorship practices probably reflect traditions and practices that have not been questioned seriously until recently. If the director of a lab is named as an author on every paper that comes from his lab, even if he does not make a significant contribution, what could be wrong with that?

That's just the way it's done, one might argue. Another example where there may be some ignorance or mistaken traditions is conflicts of interest in research. A researcher may think that a "normal" or "traditional" financial relationship, such as accepting stock or a consulting fee from a drug company that sponsors her research, raises no serious ethical issues.

Or perhaps a university administrator sees no ethical problem in taking a large gift with strings attached from a pharmaceutical company. If "deviations" from ethical conduct occur in research as a result of ignorance or a failure to reflect critically on problematic traditions, then a course in research ethics may help reduce the rate of serious deviations by improving the researcher's understanding of ethics and by sensitizing him or her to the issues.

Finally, education in research ethics should be able to help researchers grapple with the ethical dilemmas they are likely to encounter by introducing them to important concepts, tools, principles, and methods that can be useful in resolving these dilemmas. Scientists must deal with a number of different controversial topics, such as human embryonic stem cell research, cloning, genetic engineering, and research involving animal or human subjects, which require ethical reflection and deliberation.

Use the browser controls to adjust the font size, or print this page. Resnik, J. Alternatives to Animal Testing. Honesty Strive for honesty in all scientific communications. Objectivity Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research where objectivity is expected or required.

Integrity Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action. Carefulness Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Openness Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas. Transparency Disclose methods, materials, assumptions, analyses, and other information needed to evaluate your research.

Accountability Take responsibility for your part in research and be prepared to give an account i. Intellectual Property Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property.