RESEARCH ETHICS: Record Keeping and Integrity

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RESEARCH ETHICS Record Keeping and Integrity
Matthew Ronning Associate Vice Chancellor Research
Administration
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Introduction

• Regulatory Compliance
• Human Subjects
• Animal Subjects
• Conflicts of Interest
• Export Controls
• Scientific Misconduct
• And waterskiing to boot!

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Quiz
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Definitions

• Fabrication
• Falsification
• Plagiarism
• Other non-scholarly behaviors
• Fiduciary
• Egocentricity
• I suppose Im guilty!

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Where are the problems?

• Lack of documentation
• Lack of communication
• Lack of caring
• Pressure to finish
• Leadership is missing
• It starts in 2nd grade

http//www.ncsu.edu/sparcs/lab_management
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Where are the problems?
Source 2003 Office of Inspector General
National Science Foundation
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Two Words on Documentation

• Laboratory Notebooks
• Challenges in the digital age
• Fraud more prevalent with digital records
• Forensics are available but not infallible
• DO IT!

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Digital Records

• Systemize storage
• Naming conventions
• Back ups - tracked
• Log / diary
• Keep the failures
• Whats more important, validation or invalidation
  when testing a hypothesis?
• Arguably, invalidation is more important
• Repeating mistakes is stupid
• Failure to document what has been tried and
  failed is a tragedy to the body of knowledge.

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Pay Attention to YOU

• Record Keep it clean and be religious about it
• Review Remind yourself what you did the last
  few days.
• Instruct Document instructions given and
  received. Share docs.
• Counsel Let your subordinates and others know
  how to behave.
• Think! Stop for a moment and think about where
  youve been and
• where you are headed
• Double Check Lit search is not a one-stop
  shopping spree
• Heal Shore up adversarial relationships

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Some Real Examples

• WWho thought of it first? Plagiarism resulting
  from a case of I dont like you
• CChange the numbers, then run the program.
  Instructions for an NIH grant application or for
  an educational exercise?
• XXX 18 and older only