Ethics in Research Rebecca Lunstroth, JD, MA Assistant Director and Assistant Professor McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics

Objectives Introduce ethical concepts in research Examine why these concepts can be problematic Explore plagiarism and data ownership

Principles Honesty Objectivity Openness Confidentiality Carefulness Respect for colleagues Respect for IP Respect for the law Respect for research subjects Stewardship Social Responsibility Freedom

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Scientific Misconduct and Misbehavior Fabrication – Making up Falsification - manipulating Plagiarism Selective Reporting Redundant Publications Hidden Conflicts of Interest Authorship Misrepresentations

US vaccine researcher sentenced to prison for fraud

Incident Rate of FFP Source: Ferric, FC, Steen, RG & Casadevall, A. “Misconduct accounts for the majority of retracted scientific publications.” Proc Natl Acad Sci. 109 (42) 2012 1728-33.

Journals with most retractions # Science 70 Proceedings of Nat. Aca of Science 69 The J. of Biological Chemistry 54 Nature 44 Anesthesia & Analgesia 40 J. Of Immunology 34 Blood 28 The J. of Clinical Investigation 23 Journal # Cell 22 Biochem. & Biophysical Research 18 New England J. of Medicine 16 The EMBO J. 15 J. of Hazardous Materials Molecular & Cellular Biology Source: Ferric, FC, Steen, RG & Casadevall, A. “Misconduct accounts for the majority of retracted scientific publications.” Proc Natl Acad Sci. 109 (42) 2012 1728-33.

Source: Ferric, FC, Steen, RG & Casadevall, A Source: Ferric, FC, Steen, RG & Casadevall, A. “Misconduct accounts for the majority of retracted scientific publications.” Proc Natl Acad Sci. 109 (42) 2012 1728-33.

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Allegedly plagiarized 4144 out of 6033 lines in Henry VI William Shakespeare Allegedly plagiarized 4144 out of 6033 lines in Henry VI

Proven by a preponderance of the evidence. Plagiarism The appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit Taking credit for someone else's words or works If you use someone’s work, you must give them credit. You should paraphrase and if you can’t you must use quotations. Proven by a preponderance of the evidence.

The Web and citations 156+ E-only peered review journals. Many have expanded on-line formats Must properly cite: Author Title Journal URL in full or DOI Year

How to Avoid Plagiarism Give proper credit whenever you use: Another person’s ideas, opinions or theories. Facts, statistics, graphs, drawings, or other pieces of information that are not common knowledge. Quotations when you are using another author’s exact words Paraphrase and give credit

Data Ownership

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Data Ownership – Who has the legal rights? Sponsoring Institution Funding Agency Principal Investigator

Sponsoring Institutions Maintains ownership (as long as PI is employed) Distributes funding Responsible for ensuring ethical conduct of research

Funding Agencies May impose stipulations for how data will be retained and disseminated.

Principle Investigator Steward of project’s data – physical custody May have right to access and use data. May take data with them if they change organizations

HOOP # 92 https://www.uth.edu/hoop/policy.htm?id=1448032

Concluding Thoughts As scientists you have an obligation to society to conduct ethically constructed experiments. You also have an obligation to your colleagues and the enterprise to be honest, open, objective, careful and confidential. Data generated at UT is typically owned by UT (unless there's a contract) There are forces that cause good people to do bad things: don't get caught up

Associate Director and Assistant Professor Bringing Ethics and Humanity to Health Care Rebecca Lunstroth, JD Associate Director and Assistant Professor