Scientific misconduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Scientific misconduct - Essay Example Several journals publish their own ethical guidelines (Coats, 2008). However, it is surprising that many journals say little or nothing in their â€Å"Instructions to Authors† about which types of data manipulations and data presentation conducts are acceptable and which are not. A particularly delicate issue is that of digital image manipulation. In the days before imaging software became so widely available, making adjustments to image data in the darkroom required considerable effort and/or expertise. It is now very simple, and thus tempting, to adjust or modify digital image files. Many such manipulations have been recently discussed and stigmatized in biology top journals (Rossner, 2004). For what concerns handling of scientific misconduct, several institutions have issued guidelines, even though determining appropriate sanctions is often very difficult and may vary in any specific case. As remarked in the NIH guidelines, sanctions imposed on a particular individual may h ave consequences that are much broader, i.e. members of the laboratory may be indirectly or directly affected as well. There should be a logical correspondence between the nature and severity of the proven allegations and the sanctions imposed. (NIH Committee on Scientific Conduct and Ethics, 2004). The sanctions may include, but are not limited to, the following: removal from a particular project; letter of reprimand to be included in the individual's NIH personnel file; special monitoring of work; decrease in laboratory support probation; suspension with or without pay; denial of a raise in salary or a salary/rank reduction; termination of employment (NIH Committee on Scientific Conduct and Ethics, 2004). Questions and answers CASE ONE a) Do you agree with the committee’s finding? Why or why not? I do agree, since the student behavior in case report clearly corresponds to the current definition(s) of scientific misconduct issued by several independent institutions and commi ttees (see Introduction for such a definition). b) Dr. Potter was a co-author of the submitted manuscript. Should he also be found guilty of scientific misconduct? He should not be directly guilty of scientific misconduct. Nonetheless, he is likely the last author of the paper since he is the mentor of the student. Last authors, and corresponding authors, have several clearly stated responsibilities, such as controlling that the co-authors of their work are mentioned and agree to terms and conditions of publications etc. Last authors and corresponding authors have also implicit responsibilities, such as mentoring and controlling students' behavior and skills. As a part of the education program underlying a laboratory experience, there is teaching scientific behavior. The latter consists of not only making experiments following the scientific method but it also includes ethical behavior, since science is based on the assumption that experiments are true and reliable. Dr. Potter will likely have severe consequences from his lack of attention; for instance, he will need to publish a corrigendum or to retreat his paper from the journal. This act negatively affects one's credibility with negative fallout on future publications. c) Should the university revoke George’s degree? Revoking a student's degree is one of the sanctions hypothesized by several american universities in the case of scientific misconducts. For instance, Case western Reserve University, in his Graduate School guidelines on handling scientific misconducts states: â€Å" In the event that a suspected violation of academic integrity standards is