Scientific Ethics Research Articles

Integrity and Ethics in Scientific Research: What's the Problem?

It discusses what constitutes the problem of Integrity and Ethics in Scientific Research worldwide and, in particular, what challenge it poses to FUNDECIT in Angola, based on its Statute, literature and press reports. Research produces scientific knowledge which, ever since, and even more so in the modern information/global knowledge society, is the basis of the economy and development. Good practices in the application of the scientific method, integrity, ethics and deontology make it possible to permanently obtain reliable and relevant knowledge. Bad practices, on the other hand, corrupt the system by introducing potentially wrong knowledge, waste resources, and create unfair competition. Thus, all actors in science (researchers, research groups, research and development institutions, funding agencies and global organizations) must promote training and education, policies and practices that are honest and pro-ethical. FUNDECIT's Statute advocates “respecting ethical standards, with a view to protecting and ensuring integrity” and promoting training in project management. Although medicine, bioethics, the environment, and other areas have their specificities, no investigation dispenses with integrity and ethics. The Creating a Culture of Publication Integrity Together (https://publicationethics.org/) and Plagiarism (https://plagiarism.org/), the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals websites (https://www.icmje.org/icmje -recommendations.pdf), and the BMJ Scientific Misconduct (https://www.bmj.com/abou0tbmj/ resourcesauthors/formspoliciesandchecklists/scientificmisconduct) deal with this matter. The challenge publish or perish cannot be done at the expense of integrity, ethics and truth. As Mia Couto says, “you have to show that it pays to be honest” (https://www.geledes.org.br/discurso-proferido-por-mia-couto-ao-receber-o-titulo-doutor-honoriscausa-pela-universidade-politecnica-de-maputo/).

Adam Ferguson on true religion, science, and moral progress

ABSTRACT This paper affirms the central role of religion in Adam Ferguson's practical thought by offering a new reading of his view on the interrelations between true religion, science, moral progress, and immortality. Fergusonian true religion, it is shown, originates in the understanding of wise, benevolent Providence which the physical and moral sciences offer when they become comprehensive. This understanding, in turn, grounds a neo-Stoic religious ethic. Having true religion then means: knowing the providential order, and virtuously acting upon a proper understanding of one's place, potential, and limits in this order. For Ferguson, it is argued, it is each individual's own responsibility to morally progress on the basis of true religion. The paper thus opposes interpretations of Ferguson's view of moral progress as the irreversible result of the species’ ever-increasing insight in the details of nature as a providential order. Human societies can only offer a fertile backdrop that enables individuals to live rationally and virtuously. The highest possible degree of human moral-religious progress is to be realized in the afterlife – if the individual has lived sufficiently virtuously on earth so as to merit entrance to the afterlife's progressive scene. Nevertheless, Ferguson's focus remains firmly on religion's value for this life.

Technological trajectories as an outcome of the structure-agency interplay at the national level: Insights from emerging varieties of AI

Development studies have paid less attention to the role of technological innovations and we are yet to understand how, and more importantly why, technological trajectories differ across countries. This gap becomes sharper as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly important in addressing many world development challenges. Drawing on insights from institutional work literature, this paper develops a structure-agency interplay framework to unravel the various trajectories of emerging technologies at the national level and examines the development and diffusion of AI in Canada and China. The findings show that Canada’s stable institutional environment, reinforced through institutional work by various actors, generated a national AI trajectory driven by technology development through a strong focus on scientific research and ethics, with slower organic commercialisation of AI. In China, a dynamic and loose institutional structure characterised by lax regulations, low entry barriers, and high openness to novelties has resulted in a market-driven AI trajectory focused on technology commercialisation, with domestic digital giants and the government as dominant players. National-level dynamics in formal institutions, informal institutions, technologies, and actor strategies determine heterogeneous approaches to technology development and diffusion, giving rise to varieties of technological trajectories. The levels of institutionalisation exert different forces and create different spaces for institutional work across different geographical contexts.

Studies in chemistry education under the perspective of the animal issue: a review on the international literature

Guided by the questioning about how issues related to animals are addressed in research aimed at teaching chemistry, we conducted a review in international journals in science, chemistry, education and animal ethics, seeking to identify a possible dialogue between the themes. Highlighting the novelty of these possible relations, the objective was to assemble a panoramic impression of it, assuming that inserting the animal theme in chemistry classes would improve learning, the development of values generally associated with a critical citizen, and would promote significant practices linked to the questioning of reality. In line with the themes of the works found, we built a theoretical basis on the issue between animal consumption and the future of the environment, followed by the methodology and analysis of the selected articles, divided into three categories: environmental chemistry as driving issue to construct scientific concepts, discussions on food and nutrition through a scientific view, and introduction of concepts, analysis and methods through food chemistry. The analyzed texts brought several aspects of the investigated relations, dealing with both food health and environmental problems. Along with that, they explored numerous pedagogical possibilities in order to raise awareness and make the teaching-learning process more attractive and effective. Among the conclusions, there is that animal ethics, through its various aspects, is either not contemplated or appears in a veiled way by publications in the area of chemistry education. We recognize that there is a long way to go in search of a new perception.

Chinese academic community speaks out on He Jiankui again: Consensus statement on the challenges and responses of science and technology ethics governance

Chinese academic community speaks out on He Jiankui again: Consensus statement on the challenges and responses of science and technology ethics governance

The evolution of research evaluation in China

Reforming the research evaluation system is essentially a struggle between the academic aristocracy, which professes expert approaches to evaluation, and the scientific bureaucracy, which seeks to ensure the dictate of numerical indicators. A representative example is the evolution of this confrontation in China, where a long-term commitment to international scientometric databases made it possible to achieve world leadership in terms of the number of publications. However, these achievements were accompanied by negative effects caused by deterioration in the personnel policy of universities, the reduction of academic freedoms, changes in the publication behavior of researchers, and violations of scientific ethics. This led to a reform of the national evaluation system, namely, the strengthening of the role of expertise, the priority dissemination of scientific information at the national level, and the restriction of open access publications. This considers the history of the formation of and changes in the research evaluation system in China, its positive and negative effects, as well as new scientific practices, their likely consequences, and the possibility to apply them in other countries.

How Can IJDS Authors, Reviewers, and Editors Use (and Misuse) Generative AI?

How Can <i>IJDS</i> Authors, Reviewers, and Editors Use (and Misuse) Generative AI?

An International High Court for Scientific Debates is Now Required

The borderline of ethics in science is often unclear and occasionally questionable. Over-ambition in a highly competitive scientific environment may not only lead to great discoveries, but also to fraudulence as public recognition, promotion or rewards are tempting. To better control the authenticity and trueness of scientific output, a protecting system that involves the entire scientific community has long ago been established and is still operative nowadays.

Social and Moral Guidance of Balinese Life in Kakawin Niti Sastra

Estimated to be written in 350 B.C. In the Magada Kingdom of India, Niti Sastra is one of the knowledge references that gives readers an overview of leadership and management. In Bali, the script is better known as Kakawin Niti Sastra. Kakawin is poetry written in the Kawi language, an extinct old Javanese language. Niti Sastra is the Sanskrit term for "science of morality," and it refers to the study of how to uphold Dharma or morality in one's conduct and in all of life. Politics and leadership are generally discussed in academia, as per Niti Sastra. After that, it gives a general summary of how the teachings of the Niti Sastra relate to those of other Hindu texts and goes on to describe the Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics in more detail. However, a closer look reveals that Niti Sastra also further documents and outlines social communication processes. Ideas given in the Kekawin Niti Sastra, particularly those pertaining to the arena of social life, have universal values, as evidenced by the presentation of several examples, even in a nation that no longer has a feudal administration system and its socioeconomic conditions. These principles, which are founded on Hinduism, still hold true. Thus, the Niti Sastra Book might be a good resource for academics looking to gain a deeper understanding, particularly about the application of moral principles to daily life.

Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Other EDI Phrases and EDI Policy Frameworks: A Scoping Review

Equity, equality, diversity, inclusion, belonging, dignity, justice, accessibility, accountability, and decolonization are individual concepts used to engage with problematic social situations of marginalized groups. Phrases that put together these concepts in different ways, such as “equity, diversity and inclusion”, “equality, diversity, and inclusion”, “diversity, equity and inclusion”, “equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility”, “justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion”, and “equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization” are increasingly used, indicating that any one of these concepts is not enough to guide policy decisions. These phrases are also used to engage with problems in the workplace. Universities are one workplace where these phrases are used to improve the research, education, and general workplace climate of marginalized students, non-academic staff, and academic staff. EDI policy frameworks such as Athena SWAN and DIMENSIONS: equity, diversity, and inclusion have been also set up with the same purpose. What EDI data are generated within the academic literature focusing on EDI in the workplace, including the higher education workplace, influence the implementation and direction of EDI policies and practices within the workplace and outside. The aim of this scoping review of academic abstracts employing SCOPUS, the 70 databases of EBSCO-HOST and Web of Sciences, was to generate data that allow for a detailed understanding of the academic inquiry into EDI. The objective of this study was to map out the engagement with EDI in the academic literature by answering seven research questions using quantitative hit count manifest coding: (1) Which EDI policy frameworks and phrases are mentioned? (2) Which workplaces are mentioned? (3) Which academic associations, societies, and journals and which universities, colleges, departments, and academic disciplines are mentioned? (4) Which medical disciplines and health professionals are mentioned? (5) Which terms, phrases, and measures of the “social” are present? (6) Which technologies, science, and technology governance terms and ethics fields are present? (7) Which EDI-linked groups are mentioned and which “ism” terms? Using a qualitative thematic analysis, we aimed to answer the following research question: (8) What are the EDI-related themes present in relation to (a) the COVID-19/pandemic, (b) technologies, (c) work/life, (d) intersectionality, (e) empowerment of whom, (f) “best practices”, (g) evaluation and assessment of EDI programs, (h) well-being, and (i) health equity. We found many gaps in the academic coverage, suggesting many opportunities for academic inquiries and a broadening of the EDI research community.

Scientific ethics in the context of digital transformation

This study analyzes the definitions associated with the term digital transformation. Through this study, we aim to contribute to academic research and public discussion of the impact of digital transformation on scientific research. We focus on data infrastructures and their implications for research within and across disciplinary and national boundaries. The study aims to reflect and share our experiences with digital tools in the digital humanities, using approaches from research in science and technology, the history and philosophy of science. In addition, the ambivalent effects of digital transformation on the development of science are considered. The characteristics of digital transformation are analyzed. Issues between digital transformation and scientific ethics were considered. Key words: digitalization, digital transformation, scientific ethics, technology, democratic openness, access, open use, digital infrastructure, plagiarism, Internet space, scientific space.

Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral ferrous sulfate replacement in elderly patients after acute non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding (FIERCE): protocol of a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial

IntroductionAcute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a life-threatening emergency with a critical economic burden. As a result of bleeding, anaemia often requires intravenous or oral iron supplementation. Elderly patients are even...

Generating scholarly content with ChatGPT: ethical challenges for medical publishing.

Generating scholarly content with ChatGPT: ethical challenges for medical publishing.

Common health assets protocol: a mixed-methods, realist evaluation and economic appraisal of how community-led organisations (CLOs) impact on the health and well-being of people living in deprived areas

IntroductionThis research investigates how community-led organisations’ (CLOs’) use of assets-based approaches improves health and well-being, and how that might be different in different contexts. Assets-based approaches involve ‘doing with’ rather...

Abstracted Power and Responsibility in Computer Science Ethics Education

As computing becomes more powerful and extends the reach of those who wield it, the imperative grows for computing professionals to make ethical decisions regarding the use of that power. We propose the concept of abstracted power to help computer science students understand how technology may distance them perceptually from consequences of their actions. Specifically, we identify technological intermediation and computational thinking as two factors in computer science that contribute to this distancing. To counter the abstraction of power, we argue for increased emotional engagement in computer science ethics education, to encourage students to feel as well as think regarding the potential impacts of their power on others. We suggest four concrete pedagogical approaches to enable this emotional engagement in computer science ethics curriculum, and we share highlights of student reactions to the material.

Good Scientific Practice and Ethics in Sports and Exercise Science: A Brief and Comprehensive Hands-on Appraisal for Sports Research

Sports and exercise training research is constantly evolving to maintain, improve, or regain psychophysical, social, and emotional performance. Exercise training research requires a balance between the benefits and the potential risks. There is an inherent risk of scientific misconduct and adverse events in most sports; however, there is a need to minimize it. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the clinical and ethical challenges in sports and exercise research. We also enlist solutions to improve method design in clinical trials and provide checklists to minimize the chances of scientific misconduct. At the outset, historical milestones of exercise science literature are summarized. It is followed by details about the currently available regulations that help to reduce the risk of violating good scientific practices. We also outline the unique characteristics of sports-related research with a narrative of the major differences between sports and drug-based trials. An emphasis is then placed on the importance of well-designed studies to improve the interpretability of results and generalizability of the findings. This review finally suggests that sports researchers should comply with the available guidelines to improve the planning and conduct of future research thereby reducing the risk of harm to research participants. The authors suggest creating an oath to prevent malpractice, thereby improving the knowledge standards in sports research. This will also aid in deriving more meaningful implications for future research based on high-quality, ethically sound evidence.

Citation metrics: To refuse or use?

The article analyzes the use of bibliometric indicators to evaluate the work of scientists. We answer the question of why bibliometric assessments of scientific work have become so widespread in recent decades; also, we consider the pros and cons of such assessments from the point of view of public welfare. The paper gives recommendations for reforming the current system of assessing the effectiveness of scientific work. It is necessary to minimize reporting on publications and citations and not create conditions for a race in the number of citations and articles. Since citations of scientific papers have a delay, the assessment of published articles based on bibliometrics should have a lag of 1 to 5 years, depending on the research area. Publication in a scientific journal should not be the only form of presenting the results of scientific work: conference reports, reports (including grants), monographs, etc. must also be taken into account. For effective organization of science, formal rules alone are not sufficient; informal institutions are no less important, primarily the institution of scientific reputation. In order to stimulate its development in the Russian scientific community, we offer using the formal institution of vicarious liability — the responsibility of employers for violations of employees. Liability, in this case, means the dependence of state funding of an organization on violations of scientific ethics committed by its researchers. Finally, it is necessary to reinforce the significance of the institution of peer review, making this process more public.

COMPUTER ETHICS TRAINING IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AS ONE OF THE FACTORS OF FORMING THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS

The given article encompasses problems of computer ethics role in the technical specialists preparing process. The attention is focused on an urgency and practical significance of this problem in modern conditions of computer technique development. The article examines the special role of higher education in creating computer ethics standards, analyzes the study of modern forms of information ethics, which is extremely relevant in the conditions of global digitalization, as well as at the justification of the need for its study in institutions of higher education. The skills and abilities of technical students and students who study in the field of informatics and plan to be future software developers responsible for making decisions about various types of technology development are considered in the article.&#x0D; A conclusion was made about the need to introduce a course on the ethics of the global information space, that is, computer ethics, into the education of students, along with the creation and implementation of codes of scientific information ethics for scientists and teachers of modern universities.

A Critique of the Kurdish Working Group’s Writing Guide in Terms of Methodology and Scientific Ethics

Methodology and adherence to scientific ethics are the two most important points for any work. These are the two points that make a work successful or weak. This article, in this framework, is a review of the Kurdish Working Group's Writing Guide published by the Mesopotamia Foundation in December 2019. It is understood from the book that this Guide is the result of several years of the Kurmanci Working Group’s work and was prepared with the participation of 20 academics / academically affiliated people. Although it has been prepared for several years, it can be seen that the work and the prepared Guide have serious problems in terms of scientific methods and ethics. Therefore, methodological problems and scientific ethics of the Guide and its preparation process have been evaluated in this article.

Ethics in research and publication of research articles

Science aims at promoting knowledge by gathering and discovering the objective truth, the facts that are independent of human interests, their values, ideology and biases. The way in which scientists come to this goal is through the universally accepted and thoroughly regulated processes – the scientific method. There is no clear definition which will answer the question what is unethical in biomedical research. All people recognize some common ethical norms but different individuals interpret, apply, and balance these norms in different ways in light of their own values and life experiences. Generally, it can be said that unethical behaviour in science is any significant mistreatment of intellectual property or participation of other parties, deliberately hampering the research process or distortion of scientific evidence,as well as all the behaviours that affect the integrity of scientific practice. Given theimportance of the primary goal of scientific enterprise, that is search for truth and trustworthy results, ethics in science has increasingly come into focus. There are several reasons why it is important to adhere to ethical norms in research. Norms promote the aims of research, such as knowledge and truth, variety of moral and social values and help to build public support for research. This paper analyzes the major principles of ethical conduct in science and closely related topics on ghost authorship, conflict of interest, co-authorship assignment, redundant/repetitiveand duplicate publications. Furthermore, the paper provides an insight into the fabrication and falsification of data, as the most common forms of scientific fraud.