Science Ethics

1
Science Ethics Whats the Big Deal?
Credit Prof. D. Venkataraman made this
presentation in Summer 2008 for the CURE REU
students. Minor additions Prof. S. Auerbach
2
Ethical Systems
Aristotle goal is deep, long-lasting happiness
or Eudamonia Act in a way that leads to such
happiness. (Seems selfish) Kant categorical
imperative when considering an action, do
it only if the world would still be ok if
everyone does that action. (Less selfish, more
outward view) Bhagavad Gita seek to perform
your duty, but lay not claim to its fruits
dont get too consumed with lust for fruit.
(Selfless) Science fruit adoration from
mentor, publications, PhD, job, tenure, awards,
fame, fortune, national academy, Nobel
prize. Science duty honesty, creativity,
learning, contributing to society, caring for
mentors, students and colleagues.
3
Plagiarism
-to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of
another) as one's own   use (another's
production) without crediting the source -to
commit literary theft  present as new and
original an idea or product derived from an
existing source -Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Credit Prof. D. Venkataraman made this
presentation in Summer 2008 for the CURE REU
students.
4
Turkish physicists face accusations of
plagiarism
By Geoff Brumfiel in Nature, 2007, 449,
8 Scores of papers are removed from arXiv
server. More than a dozen theoretical
physicists at four universities in Turkey seem
to be involved in a massive plagiarism scandal.
Almost 70 papers by 15 authors have been removed
from the popular preprint server arXiv, where
many physicists post their work, by the server's
moderators. They allege that the papers
plagiarize the works of others or contain
inappropriate levels of overlap with earlier
articles. This is probably the largest single
incident of its sort ever seen on the server,
according to physicist Paul Ginsparg of Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York, and founder of
arXiv. "What these guys did was way over the
line," he says.
5
Katepalli Sreenivasan, director of the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics in
Trieste, Italy, which has a programme of
collaboration with physicists from the
developing world, agrees. "There are some
cultures in which plagiarism is not even
regarded as deplorable," he says. Problems of
academic integrity come up frequently at the
centre, and are dealt with on a case-by-case
basis, he adds. In Turkish physicists face
accusations of plagiarism by Geoff Brumfiel
in Nature, 2007, 449, 8
6
Plagiarism? No, we're just borrowing better
English
By Ihsan Yilmaz in Nature 2007, 449,658

For those of us whose mother tongue is not
English, using beautiful sentences from other
studies on the same subject in our introductions
is not unusual. Borrowing sentences in the
part of a paper that simply helps to better
introduce the problem should not be seen as
plagiarism. Even if our introductions are not
entirely original, our results are and these
are the most important part of any scientific
paper.
7
Integrity and Ethical Conduct of Research and
Scholarly Activities
Personal ethics vs. Professional ethics Good
Science vs. Bad Science
Errors/Mistakes vs. Misconduct
Misconduct means fabrication, falsification,
plagiarism, or other practices that seriously
deviate from those that are commonly accepted
within the scientific community for proposing,
conducting or reporting research. It does not
include honest errors or honest differences in
interpretations or judgements of data From
Teaching Scientific Integrity and Research
Ethics, Sponholz, G. Forensic Science
International 2000, 113, 511-513
8
Errors and Mistakes

• Errors when trying to do your best
• Errors made in haste, inattention, carelessness,
  methods violation

Acknowledge Correct Retract Publish with
Correction
Failure to Correct is a Misconduct!
From a Lecture by Prof. John A. Katzenellenbogan
at the Annual Meeting of the Organic Area
Graduate Students, University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, April 1995.
9
(No Transcript)
10
Misconduct in Research

• Generation of Data
• Handling of the Data
• Interpretation of the Data
• Making Hypotheses
• Conflict of Interests
• Authorship

11
Data Generation, Handling and Interpretation

• Limitation of Experimental Techniques
• Limitation of Theoretical Models
• Role of Control Experiments
• Cooking and Trimming (data selection)
• Check for Consistency
• Personal Bias Self-deception in interpretation
  (favorite hypotheses)
• Hypotheses that unify the observations,
  simple/elegant, predictive
• Make Hypotheses Based on the Observed Data
• Role of culture, politics, religion, philosophy,
  social status, money, fame and funding
• Be aware of your values. Dont allow them to
  dictate your interpretation and hypotheses

12
Authorship, Review, Citation, Credits
Three-out-of-four rule in the DV Lab

• Conceive
• Conduct
• Interpret
• Present

Active vs. Honorary authorship For UMass Policies
on joint authorship see Policy Statement on
Joint Authorship At The University of
Massachusetts At Amherst
Citations- Give Credit Where Due Plagiarism- Do
NOT copy phrases or ideas without Credits
All Journals have Ethical Guidelines for the
Publication of Chemical Research
13
Your Responsibility to Society

• Public Funds for our Work
• Education of non-scientists about the Contents
  and Processes in Science
• Dissipation of Knowledge
• Environment and the Future

• Core Values
• Honesty
• Skepticism
• Fairness
• Collegiality
• Openness

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
From the Editors Desk
3 Referees Referee A Recommended acceptance
with Minor Alterations Referee B Major
Changes Referee C Reject
After Revision Referee B The Importance of
these disclosures is such that they must now be
made available to our professional colleagues in
order to allow an international debate to take
place Referee C This work is inherently flawed
After Retraction The most critical of the three
referees was right, and I regret not taken his
advice But, all too often, the established
peer review system is accused of stifling
unconventional publications which might introduce
a paradigm change. Peter Gölitz Editor, Angew.
Chem.
17
The Retraction
Enantioselective Reactions In a Static Magnetic
Field Zadel, G. Eisenbraun, C. Wolff, G. J.
Breitmaier, E. Angew. Chem. Int. Edn. 1994, 33,
454-456
starting solution prepared by G. Zadel for the
reduction of propiophenone with lithium aluminium
hydride also contained considerable amounts of
()-1-phenylpropanol in addition to
propipophenonone
Therefore we must assume that the data in the
publication as well as successful attempts at
reproducing the results by other co-workers in my
research group and guest scientists in the
presence of G. Zadel came about because of
consistent and particularly cleverly disguised
manipulations. I therefore wish to disassociate
myself and the coauthors C. Eisenbraun and G. J.
Wolff from all the experimental results in the
publication
E. Breitmaier Angew. Chem. Int. Edn. 1994, 33,
1461.
18
Bibliography

• On Being A Scientist Responsible Conduct In
  Research, Second Edn. National Academy Press,
  1995.
• Gölitz, P. Angew. Chem. Int. Edn. 1994, 33, 1457.
• Kovac, J. J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, 926-928.
• Coppola, B. J. Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 1506-1511.
• Bradley, D. Science 1994, 264, 908.
• Zadel, G. Eisenbraun, C. Wolff, G. J.
  Breitmaier, E. Angew. Chem. Int. Edn. 1994, 33,
  454-456.
• Barron, P. Science 1994, 266, 1491-1492.
• Sponholz, G. Forensic Science International,
  2000, 113, 511-514.
• Feringa, B. L. Kellog, R. M. Hulst, R.
  Zondervan, C. Kruizinga, W. H. Angew. Chem. Int.
  Edn. 1994, 33, 1458-1459.
• Kaupp, G. Marquardt, T. Angew. Chem. Int. Edn.
  1994, 33, 1459-1461.

19
Tom Lehrers Lobachevsky
I am never forget the day I first met the great
Lobachevsky. In one word he told me secret of
success in mathematics Plagiarize! Plagiarize, Le
t no one else's work evade your eyes, Remember
why the good Lord made your eyes, So don't shade
your eyes, But plagiarize, plagiarize,
plagiarize... Only be sure always to call it
please research. And ever since I meet this man
my life is not the same, And Nicolai Ivanovich
Lobachevsky is his name.
20
The Woodward- Hoffmann Rules Story
E. J. Coreys Claim On May 4, 1964, I
suggested to my colleague R. B. Woodward a
simple explantion involving the symmetry of ther
perturbed (HOMO) molecular orbitals for the
stereoselective cyclobutene/1,3-butadiene and
1,3,5-hexatriene/Cyclohexadiene conversions that
provided the basis for further development of
these ideas into what became known as the
Woodward-Hoffmann Rules
21
The Woodward- Hoffmann Rules Story
In a letter to Roald Hoffmann in 1984 Roald,
Please consider that history may not
deal leniently in this matter, taking seriously
the possibility not only of Bobs dishonesty, but
of your own not unwitting participation in the
extension of fraud