2. Introduction
• This presentation is designed to introduce engineering students
to the concepts, theory and practice of research ethics.
• Our society places a great deal of responsibility on its
professionals and requires that they conduct themselves in a
manner fitting to the place of prominence accorded to them by
the community.
• Studying and understanding research ethics is as much a part
of your development as an engineer as is the study of higher
order mathematics.
• You must be able to broaden your mind and be open to
society’s ever changing character.
• It is important that you learn to share ideas and concepts
regardless of the fact that you may not always agree.
3. Objectives
• An understanding of your duties and responsibilities as
researchers through gaining knowledge of the philosophies of
ethics, professional practice, and world culture.
• Basic knowledge to make informed ethical decisions when
confronted with problems in the research environment.
• Subjective analytical skills through investigation and evaluation
of ethical problems in engineering settings using accepted tests
for moral problem solving.
• An understanding of how societal morals vary with culture and
how this influences ethical thought and action.
• Know some of the classic cases as well as contemporary
issues in engineering research ethics.
4. Some general points
• Ethics
• moral principles of right and wrong
• not absolute; may vary by person, by time, by place
• and may be in competition with each other
• Research ethics
• incorporating ethical principles into research practice
• may involve a balance between and within principles and practices
• all stages, all those involved, from inception of research through to
completion and publication of results and beyond
5. Ethics v/s Morals
Ethics and morals relate to “right” and
“wrong” conduct. While they are
sometimes used interchangeably, they
are different: ethics refer to rules
provided by an external source, e.g.,
codes of conduct in workplaces or
principles in religions. Morals refer to
an individual’s own principles
regarding right and wrong.
6. ESRC Guidelines
1. Research should be designed, reviewed and
undertaken to ensure integrity and quality
2. Research staff and subjects must be informed fully
about the purpose, methods and intended possible
uses of the research, what their participation in the
research entails and what risks if any, are involved.
• Exceptionally, some variation may be acceptable
3. The confidentiality of information supplied by research
subjects and the anonymity of respondents must be
respected.
7. ESRC Guidelines
4. Research participants must participate in a voluntary
way, free from any coercion.
• Exceptionally, covert research and deception may be
acceptable.
5. Harm to participants must be avoided.
• avoidance of harm extends to family, kin, community
• groups should not be unreasonably excluded from research
• exceptionally, some limited short term and minimal harm may
be acceptable
6. The independence of the research must be clear; any
conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit.
8. Elsevier Guidelines
1. Authorship disputes: deliberately misrepresenting a
scientist's relationship to their work
2. Conflict of interest: non-disclosure to the publication that you
have a direct or indirect conflict that prevents you from being
unbiased
3. Plagiarism: passing off another's work or idea as your own
4. Simultaneous submission: submitting a paper
simultaneously to more than one publication at a time
5. Research fraud: which includes fabrication (making up
research data); and falsification (manipulation of existing
research data, tables, or images)
6. Salami slicing: the "slicing" of research that would form one
meaningful paper into several different papers
9. Ethical Principles in Engineering
Research
• Voluntary Participation (Informed consent- Components,
deception – procedures)
• Materials, samples, commercial testing
• PAC: PRIVACY, ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
• Beneficence – promotion of well being (maximize benefit)
• Autonomy – make own decisions
• Integrity
10. Voluntary Participation
• Subjects must agree to reveal information about themselves
and their projects/organizations.
• Subjects must be able to provide informed consent.
• Behavior observed in public settings is assumed to imply
agreement to being observed.
• Subjects contacted after being observed in a public setting
must be informed they were observed in a public setting.
• Material, samples, etc. used for commercial testing may not be
included in research without consent.
11. No Harm…
• Subjects must be free from reasonably anticipated physical,
emotional or official harm.
• No punitive actions for revealing organizational weaknesses (corruption,
slow decision making, kickbacks, low quality material, etc.)
• Subjects must be informed of the manifest content of the
information they will be asked to reveal about themselves.
• It is permissible to deceive subjects, as long as the deception
cannot be anticipated to create any harm.
12. Informed Consent means…..
• Purpose of study.
• How respondent was selected.
• Results will be used for research and [other].
• Voluntary participation in the study or any part of it.
• Respondent can keep any incentives if they withdraw from the
study.
• Confidentiality of responses.
• Contact information of the researcher.
13. Legitimizing the risks when…..
• Research which is deliberately opposed to the interests of the
research subjects
• E.g.- studies of power or inequality
• aim to reveal and critique economic, political, or cultural disadvantage
• may have negative impact on some subjects
• Research which balances short-term risks to subjects against
longer terms gains to beneficiaries
14. Covert Research
must not be undertaken lightly or routinely – only as a last resort
but may be justified
• where it provides unique forms of evidence
• where overt observation might alter the phenomenon being
studied: Hawthorne effect
• if important or significant issues are being addressed, and
matters of significance are being discovered which cannot be
uncovered in other ways
• where there might be risks for participant or researcher
• would always require full review by R.E.C.
15. Areas of Academic misconduct
1. Plagiarism
2. Fabrication and falsification
3. Non-publication of data
4. Faulty data-gathering procedures
5. Poor data storage and retention
6. Misleading authorship
7. Sneaky publication practices
16. Non-Publication of data
• Sometimes called “cooking data”
• Data not included in results because they don’t support the
desired outcome
• Some data are “bad” data
• Bad data should be recognized while it is being collected or
analyzed
• Outlier – unrepresentative score; a score that lies outside of the
normal scores
• How should outliers be handled?
17. Data Gathering
• Collecting data from participants who are not complying with
requirements of the study
• Using faulty equipment/material
• Treating participants inappropriately
• Recording data incorrectly
• Most important and most aggravating
• Always drop non-compliers
• Fix broken equipment
• Treat subjects with respect and dignity
• Record data accurately
• Store data in a safe and private place for 3 years
18. Authorship…
• Misleading authorship—who should be an author?
• Technicians do not necessarily become joint authors
• Authorship should involve only those who contribute directly
• Discuss authorship before the project!
• Three types of authorship are considered unacceptable:
• "Ghost" authors, who contribute substantially but are not acknowledged
(often paid by commercial sponsors);
• "Guest" authors, who make no discernible contributions, but are listed to
help increase the chances of publication;
• "Gift" authors, whose contribution is based solely on a tenuous affiliation
with a study.
19. Authorship…
• Issues around authorship can be complex and sensitive.
• Early career researchers who encounter such situations may fear they will
jeopardize their reputation and career if they speak up.
• Take the time to fully understand each journal's guidelines for
authorship, and industry requirements.
• If you find yourself in a challenging situation that you are not sure how to
handle, consult with a trusted mentor or supervisor.
• Publication of the thesis or dissertation
• Should be regarded as the student’s work
• Committee chair and members may be listed as secondary authors
• Dual publication – a manuscript should only be published in a single
journal
• What about studies which include a huge amount of data?
21. IPR & Academic Research
• Intellectual property (IP) is a legal term that refers to creations
of the mind:
• music, literature, and other artistic works;
• discoveries and inventions; and
• words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
• Under intellectual property laws, owners of intellectual property
are granted certain exclusive rights. Some common types of
intellectual property rights (IPR) are copyright, patents, and
industrial design rights; and the rights that protect trademarks,
trade dress, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.
• IPRs are themselves a form of property, called intangible
property.
