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 Research Ethics

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• Researcher must ensure that data is accurate
• Researcher must not try to intentionally prove a point 
• Researcher must ensure that data is sufficiently investigated and findings are totally accurate
• Researcher must not misrepresent the statistical accuracy of data nor must they over-represent the results by altering the findings
• Researcher must ensure privacy, anonymity and set out a code of ethics

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Thesis Writing & 10. Typing of Report

• Final stage of research
• Provides overall view and solution to the problem 
• Provides all the elements of the project taken for study 
• Bears the total summary of the work
• Satisfies all researchers by providing partial  or detailed knowledge over their problems

A) Format of Thesis Writing 

1. Preliminary Section

* Title Page

* Acknowledgement

* Table of Contents

* List of Tables

* List of Figures

2. Main Body

* Introduction to the topic

* Analysis of Literature

* Design of the study

* Presentation and Analysis of Data

* Summary and Conclusions

3. Reference Section

* Bibliography

* Appendix

Research Ethics

Three sets of obligations of researchers to adhere to professional standards. 

1. An obligation to honor the trust that their colleagues place in them. 

2. An obligation to themselves. Irresponsible conduct in research can make it impossible to achieve a goal. 

3. An obligation to act in ways that serve the public.

Research Ethics 
Part I. Sharing Scientific Knowledge 
•Research publication 
•Authorship and collaborative Research
•Scientific Misconduct –FFP & QRP

Scientific Knowledge
The object of research is to extend human knowledge beyond what is already known. But an individual’s knowledge enters the domain of science only after it is presented to others in such a fashion that they can independently judge its validity (NAP, “On Being a Scientist” 1995)

Sharing Scientific Knowledge

“Science is a shared knowledge based on a common understanding of some aspect of the physical or social world”
(NAP, “On Being a Scientist” 1995)
Presentations - Social conventions play an important role in establishing the reliability of scientific knowledge
Publications in peer reviewed journals -
Research results are privileged until they are published Thesis

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Authorship
• The list of authors establishes accountability as well as credit.
• Policies at most scientific journals state that a person should be listed as the author of a paper only if that person made a direct and substantial intellectual contribution to the design of the research, the interpretation of the data, or the drafting of the paper.
• The acknowledgments section can be used to thank those who indirectly contributed to the work.

Author Responsibilities
– Preparation and Submission of Manuscripts:
Follow General Rules:
– Ensure work is new and original research
– All Authors are aware of submission and agree with content and support submission
– Agree that the manuscript can be examined by anonymous reviewers.
– Provide copies of related work submitted or published elsewhere
– Obtain copyright permission if figures/tables need to be reproduced
– Include proper affiliation

What is publishable….
Journals like to publish papers that are going to be widely read and useful to the readers
 Papers that report “original and significant” findings that are likely to be of interest to a broad spectrum of its readers
• Papers that are well organized and well written, with clear statements regarding how the findings relate to and advance the understanding/development of the subject
• Papers that are concise and yet complete in their presentation of the findings

What is not acceptable…
• Papers that are routine extensions of previous reports and that do not appreciably advance fundamental understanding or knowledge in the area
• Incremental / fragmentary reports of research results
• Verbose, poorly organized, papers cluttered with unnecessary or poor quality illustrations
• Violations of ethical guidelines, including plagiarism of any type or degree (of others or of oneself) and questionable research practices (QRP)

Research Misconduct
Research misconduct means Fabrication, Falsification, or Plagiarism (FFP) in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
(a) Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
(b) Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
(c) Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
(d) Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.

Definitions: Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism
• Plagiarism: using the ideas or words of another person without giving appropriate credit (Nat. Acad. Press document)
• Self-Plagiarism: The verbatim copying or reuse of one’s own research (IEEE Policy statement)
Both types of plagiarism are considered to be unacceptable practice in scientific literature

ACS Publication Policy
Plagiarism statement for Ethical Guidelines
January 2009 B. 9. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that the submitted manuscript is original and shall not contain plagiarized material. Plagiarism is passing off another person’s work as one’s own, i.e., reusing text, results, or creative expression without explicitly acknowledging or referencing the original author or publication. 
Authors should be aware this includes self-plagiarism, defined as the reuse of significant portions of the author’s own published work or works, without attribution to the original source. Examples of plagiarism include verbatim copying of published articles; verbatim copying of elements of published articles (e.g., figures, illustrations, tables); verbatim copying of elements of published articles with crediting, but not clearly differentiating original work from previously published work; and self-plagiarism.
It is the responsibility of the author to obtain proper permission and to appropriately cite or quote the material not original to the author. In this context, “quote” is defined as reusing other works with proper acknowledgement. Appropriate citation applies whether the material was written by another author or the author him or herself.

Other Types of Ethical Violations
• Duplicate publication/submission of research findings; failure to inform the editor of related papers that the author has under consideration or “in press”
• Unrevealed conflicts of interest that could affect the interpretation of the findings
• Misrepresentation of research findings - use of selective or fraudulent data to support a hypothesis or claim

Data Manipulation
• Researchers who manipulate their data in ways that deceive others are violating both the basic values and widely accepted professional standards of science. - failure to fulfill all three obligations.
• They mislead their colleagues and potentially impede progress in their field or research.
• They undermine their own authority and trustworthiness as researchers.

Misleading data can also arise from poor experimental design or careless measurements as well as from improper manipulation.
When a mistake appears in a journal article or book, it should be corrected in a note, erratum (for a production error), or Additions/Corrections

Sooner or later ……. ethical violations get exposed

How Journals Detect and Handle Problem Papers

•  Information received from reviewers or other editors
• Literature search for related papers by the author
• Withdrawal of a paper from publication
• Banning authors from publication in the journal for 3-5 years and informing the co-authors and editors of related journals of our action
• For less serious cases, placing the author on a “watch list” for careful examination of their submissions prior to requesting reviews

To summarize:
Research Ethics is an integral part of the graduate research.
STATEMENTS, FIGURES AND TABLES Reproduced in a Report, Presentation and/or Paper require proper citation.
Published work is protected by Copyright Law Copyright permission is necessary if you are reproducing your work in another publication (This applies even if it is your own work)


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