Difference between revisions of "Scientific Communication and Ethics"

Latest revision as of 18:50, 3 October 2009

Course Description

Lectures, discussions and analysis and presentation of case studies in the areas of scientific ethics and communication with the media. Topics in scientific ethics include misconduct, fraud, plagiarism, authorship, intellectual property rights, and academic codes of ethics.

Meetings 5:30 to 7:00 pm in TLS 301 on 29, 30 September, 1, 6, 7, and 8 October

Discussions led by Dr. Gene E. Likens, Distinguished Research Professor

Course Outline

29 September 2009: Introduction and Organization to Scientific Ethics ― Conduct in Science

Introduction

    - Responsible Conduct in Science 

30 September 2009: Scientific Ethics ― Conduct in Science

Misconduct and fraud Falsification of evidence; deletion of “outliers” Plagiarism Failures of Quality Assurance/Quality Control and methods of validation Choosing inappropriate methods through ignorance or financial pressure

1 October 2009: Scientific Ethics ― Conduct in Science

Peer review; challenges for referees Power and personal relationships Authorship and credit: assigning and responsibility at the beginning Accountability Codes of Ethics at universities and professional societies

6 October 2009: What is Scientific Ethical Behavior?

Pressure from funders to provide particular answers Censorship, a growing problem? Challenges of “advocacy science” – how to respond? Resisting pressures and still be successful

7 October 2009: Communication of Scientific Information

Intellectual Property Rights? Federal Policies Respect for ideas in collaborative research Attribution of ideas “Copycat” research proposals Relationship between a graduate student and a faculty advisor Access to data

8 October 2009: Ethics and Communication of Scientific Information

Communicating with the public Dealing with the media Responsibilities to science and to the environment; dealing with conflicts “Least publishable unit” Resources:

 http://www.amazon.com/How-Know-What-Isnt-Fallibility/dp/0029117062
 http://www.amazon.com/Voodoo-Science-Road-Foolishness-Fraud/dp/0195135156
 http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12376658

“Covering the Environment” Aldo Leopold – A Land Ethic

See last year's outline here

Reading list

Alberts, B. and K. Shine. 1994. Scientists and the integrity of research. Science 266:1660-1661. link

Butler, D. 2008. Iranian paper sparks sense of deja vu. Nature 455, 1019 (2008) link

Butler, D. 2008. Entire-paper plagiarism caught by software. Nature 455, 715 (2008) link

Carraway, L. N. 2009. Ethics for and responsibilities of authors, reviewers and editors in science. Am. Midl. Nat. 161:146-164.

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. 1995. On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. Second Edition. www.nap.edu

Couzin, J. Truth and Consequences. 2006. Science 313: 1222-1226.

Couzin,-Frankel, J. and J. Grom. 2009. Plagiarism sleuths. Science 324:1004-1007.

Davis, G. 2005. Doctors without orders. [Highlights of the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey]. Special Supplement to American Scientist (May-June), pp. 1-13. http://postdoc.sigmaxi.org

Eco-Ethics International Union. http://www.int-res.com [EEIU]

Economist Magazine 2008. Publish and be wrong. October 9, 2008. link

Elliott, Deni and Judy E. Stern (editors). 1997. Research Ethics: A Reader. University Press of New England.

Environment Institute of Australia. 1998. The Ethics of Environmental Research. Proceedings of 1997 Fenner Conference on Environmental Research Ethics. Australian Journal of Environmental Management. Vol. 5, 84 pp.

Fairchild, A. and R. Bayer. 2004. Ethics and the Conduct of Public Health Surveillance. Science 303:631-632. link

Galindo-Leal, C. 1996. Explicit authorship. Bull. Ecol. Amer., October, pp. 219-220.

Gilovich, T. 1991. How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. Free Press. New York. 224p link

Gladwell, M. 2004. Something borrowed. (Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life?) The New Yorker, November 22, 2004, pp. 40-48.

Hayes, R. and D. Grossman. 2006. A Scientist’s Guide to Talking with the Media. Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.

Horn, K. 2001. The consequences of citing hedged statements in scientific research articles. BioScience 51(12):1086-1093. link

Institute of Medicine, National Research Council of the National Academies. 2002. Integrity in Scientific Research. Creating an Environment That Promotes Responsible Conduct.

Interlandi, J. 2006. An Unwelcome Discovery. The New York Times 10/25/2006 link

Kaiser, J. 2000. Ecologists on a mission to save the world. Science 287:1188-1192. link

Kempner, J., C. S. Perlis and J. F. Merz. 2005. Forbidden knowledge. Science 307:854. link

Kitcher, P. 2004. Responsible biology. BioScience 54(4):331-336. link

Lawrence, P. A. 2003. The politics of publication. Nature 422:259-261.

Lawrence, P. (2007) The mismeasurement of science. Current Biology, Volume 17, Issue 15, Pages R583-R585 link

Leopold, Aldo. 1966. pp. 237-264. The Land Ethic, In: A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press.

Likens, G. E. 1992. The Ecosystem Approach: Its Use and Abuse. Excellence in Ecology, Vol. 3. Ecology Institute, Oldendorf/Luhe, Germany. 167 pp.

Long, T. C., M. Errami, A. C. George, Zhaohui Sun and H. R. Garner. 2009. Scientific integrity: responding to possible plagiarism. Science 323(5919):1293-1294.

Macrina, F. L. 2005. Scientific Integrity. 3rd Edition. ASM Press, Washington, D.C. 402 pp.

Martinson, B. C., M. S. Anderson and R. de Vries. 2005. Scientists behaving badly. Nature 435:737-738. link

Matisoff, G. 2001. Is it publishable? J. Great Lakes Res. 27(1):1-2.

Medawar, P. B. 1979. Advice to a Young Scientist. Basic Books, A Division of Harpur Collins Publisher.

Minteer, B. A. and J. P. Collins. 2005. Why we need an “ecological ethics.” Front. Ecol. Environ. 3(6):332-337. link

Moller, A. P. 2005. Improving the processing of scientific misconduct charges: an eyewitness perspective. ISBE Newsletter (Supplement to Behavoral Ecology) 17(2):34-35.(See also related articles and emails)

Mooney, C. 2005. The Republican War on Science. Basic Books, Cambridge, MA. 342 pp.

National Academy of Sciences. National Academy of Engineering. Institute of Medicine. 1992. Responsible Science. Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process. Vol. 1. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

National Academy of Sciences. 1997. Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend. [On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering]. National Academy Press.

National Science and Technology Council. 2000. Federal Policy on Research Misconduct. [1]

Nelson, M. and J. Vucetich. 2009. Abandon Hope. The Ecologist (March 2009), pp. 32-35.

Park, R. 2000. Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. Oxford University Press, New York. 230p. link

Primack, R. B. 2009. Why did we reject your paper? (Editorial) Biological Conservation 142:1559.

Resnik, D. B. 1998. The Ethics of Science. An Introduction. Routledge, London. 221 pp.

Schatz, G. 2006. Jeff’s View on Science and Scientists. Elsevier, London. 192 pp.

Shatz, D. 2004. Peer Review. A critical inquiry. Rowman and Littlefield Publ. Inc. NY. 247 pp.

Seglen, P. O. 1997. Why the impact factor of journals should not be used for evaluating research. British Medical Journal 314:498-502.

Shea, W. R. and B. Sitter (eds.). 1989. Scientists and Their Responsibility. Watson Publishing International. Canton, MA.

Silver, S. 2006. Gaming the impact factor. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4(6):283.

Smith, M. F., V. T. Eviner, K. C. Weathers, M. Uriarte, H. A. Ewing, J. M. Jeschke, P. Groffman and C. G. Jones. 2005. Creating individual awareness about responsible conduct in research: A case study of one institution’s approach for researchers and administrators. J. Res. Admin. 36(1):21-25. link

Steneck, Nicholas H. 2003. ORI Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research. (Office of Research Integrity)

Stokstad, Erik. 2007. ORNITHOLOGY: Gambling on a Ghost Bird. Science 317:888-892[2]

Trevors, J. T. and M. H. Saier, Jr. 2008. Corruption and fraud in science. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 189:1-3.

University of Zurich. 2001. Mission statement. Authorised by the Extended Executive Board of the University of Zurich on 16th January 2001. (Includes brief statement on ethical responsibility). Accessed 22 October 2008. [3]

Waltz, E. 2009. Battlefield. Nature 461:27-32.

Warner, J. S., G. M. Lovett and J. Cadwallader. 1991. Scientists and journalists: A primer for scientists who talk to reporters. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Amer. 72(2):116-118.

Weissberger, E. 2008. The ethics forum: the ethics of environmental manipulations. Limnol. Oceanogr. Bulletin 17(4):103-104.

Young, J. R. 2001. The cat-and-mouse game of plagiarism detection. Chronicle of Higher Education, July 6, 2001. A16. link

Ziman, J. 2000. Are debatable scientific questions debatable? Social Epistemology 14(2-3):187-199.