The Journal, Science and Engineering Ethics has published several of the Cases and Commentaries from the Association's six volumes of Research Ethics: Cases and Commentaries. Each of the cases with commentaries appears with an introduction by Brian Schrag and an additional commentary on the case, written especially for the Journal issue. The first case, "Forbidden Knowledge" appeared in Science and Engineering Ethics, (2003) Volume 9, Issue 3. The second case, "Barking up the Wrong Tree" appeared in Science and Engineering Ethics, (2003) Volume 9, Issue 4. The third case, "The Gladiator Sparrow: Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research on Captive Populations of Wild Animals: A Case Study with Commentaries Exploring Ethical Issues and Research on Wild Animal Populations," appeared in Science and Engineering Ethics (2004) 10, Issue 4. The six volumes of Research Ethics: Cases and Commentaries were prepared by graduate students and post doctoral fellows in the Association's NSF funded program "Graduate Research Ethics Education" (GREE) and include 101 cases in research ethics on a wide variety of topics, along with commentaries which are suitable for use in the undergraduate and graduate classroom as well as for discussions in seminars on research ethics. Most cases involve some morally problematic behavior in research but some cases involve analysis of someone "doing the right thing".
Individual cases focus on a variety of topics, including student-mentor relations, authorship credit, whistle blowing, conflict of interest, issues in research using human subjects, and intellectual property. The case studies are useful in a variety of contexts, ranging from undergraduate- and graduate-level courses through faculty development initiatives.
To order, please print and complete the order form here in PDF format, which requires Adobe's free Acrobat Reader.
For more information: (812) 855-6450; FAX (812) 856-4969; appe@indiana.edu.
Following is a brief summary of the topics covered in the seven volumes.
A Handbook for Graduate Research Ethics Education by Graduate Research Ethics Education Participants. (2004). This monograph contains essays written by eighteen participants of the Graduate Research Ethics Education Project. There are essays on relationships of graduate students to advisors, mentors, faculty committees, academic research groups, and external collaborators. Also included are essays on research practices including, authorship, data ownership, interpretation and modeling, research with human participants, use of hazardous materials, peer review processes and ethical issues in teaching, industrial collaborations and handling misconduct. There is a final section on science and society. (Association for Practical and Professional Ethics 2004.) This handbook was produced with the support of the National Science Foundation (Grants 9421897 and 9817880).
Preface
Ethical issues surround and permeate science. Graduate students encounter these issues in a variety of ways - in the human relationships they develop as part of their professional training, in the everyday decisions they make regarding their research, in learning and coming to grips with the practices of science, in thinking about the choices they (and other scientists) make about their research and its effects on the world.
While much has been written about science and even about the ethical issues arising in and around science, little has been written specifically for graduate students in the sciences and engineering. Indeed, very few resources (written or otherwise) are available to help graduate students to navigate the ethical dilemmas they face and to make sense of their experiences in graduate school and after.
This handbook is an attempt to fill the gap. It is written by graduate students for graduate students. While it is intended especially for students who are just beginning graduate school, to prepare them for what they might encounter, it may also be helpful to more seasoned graduate students who are looking for assistance in understanding the graduate school environment.
The handbook is the product of a project that began in 1996 when the National Science Foundation's Program on Ethics and Values (in the Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science and Technology Program) funded a proposal for workshops training graduate students in research ethics. The project, conducted by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, aimed to provide training in research ethics to graduate students in science and engineering so as to reach them early in their careers, in the hope that the early involvement and training would have a lasting effect on their attitudes and interests throughout their careers.
From 1996-2003, graduate students with excellent records in their fields of specialization and an interest in ethics attended a five-day summer workshop at Indiana University and a follow-up meeting during the subsequent year. A second NSF grant allowed all the participants to be brought together as an alumni group so as to facilitate development of a community of scientists and engineers interested in research ethics. The idea for this handbook emerged from the alumni group.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
I. Introduction - Why Research Ethics? Why Care
A. The Graduate Research Ethics Education Project - Brian Schrag
B. Why Care? - Melanie L. Leitner
II. Relationships
A. Overview - Julie Anne Reyes
B. Choosing an Adviser/Mentor: Four Takes
C. Relationship Dynamics in Faculty Committees - Sara E.Wilson
D. Relationships in the Academic Research Group - Tristan Fiedler
E. External Collaborations in the Life of the Graduate Student - Lida Anestidou
III. Practices
A. Research Integrity: Being Wrong vs. Doing Wrong - James J. Corbet
B. Authorship
E. Use of Hazardous Materials - Lisa Y. Stein
F. Navigating the Peer Review Process - Jennifer M. McCafferty
G. Ethical Issues in Teaching - Tara L. Kuther
H. Industrial Collaborations - Josephine M. Li-McLeod
I. Handling Misconduct - DeAnne Marie Goodenough-Lashua, Lisa P. Landrum and Sara E. Wilson
IV. Science and Society
A. Overview
B. Social Consequences in Applied Science and Engineering - Sara E. WilsonV. Further Reading
VI. A View from the Trenches: Advice to Graduate Students in the Sciences from Graduate Students: Quotes from GREE Alumni
About the Authors
The authors are listed with their institutional affiliation at the time of
their initial participation in the Graduate Research Ethics Education
Project
Lida Anestidou, Integrative Biology, University of
Texas-Houston
James Corbett, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon
University
Monette M. Cotreau, Pharmacology/Experimental Therapeutics,
Tufts University
Jeffrey Dudycha, Zoology/Ecology, Michigan State University
Tristan Fiedler, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, University of
Miami
Julia Frugoli, Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College
Kevin Geedey, Zoology, Michigan State University
DeAnne Marie Goodenough-Lashua, Medicinal Chemistry, University
of Michigan
Tara Kuther, Developmental Psychology, Fordham University
Lisa P. Landrum, Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health
Sciences Center
Melanie Leitner, Neuroscience, Washington University
Jennifer M. McCafferty, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology,
University of Miami
Josephine M. Li-Mcleod, Pharmaceutical Science, University of
Oklahoma
Vanessa Ott, Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Julie Anne Reyes, Anthropology, Michigan State University
Amy Sayle, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
Lisa Y. Stein, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Oregon State
University
Sara E. Wilson, Medical Engineering/Medical Physics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Katherine Young, Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona