Today I did some research on yahoo.com for popular sites in the science community that might have articles or news on ethics. I came across a site with some essays about ethics in science and some news about recent ethics violations. The essay broke down scientific misconduct into two categories: scientific negligence and deliberate dishonesty. Negligence being that the scientist did not properly follow the scientific method or made an error that went unnoticed. Either way, they did not set out from the beginning with the intentions of misconduct. Deliberate dishonesty includes premeditated acts of fraud that may include forged or fabricated data, falsified or invented results, plagiarism, piracy, hoaxes, and other such malicious acts. The author mentions that both forms of scientific misconduct should be viewed equally in punishment because of what is at stake by misconduct in the community. The argument that the author makes is whether or not scientists need a professional code of ethics. “In conclusion, scientists need well-defined and clearly written professional codes of conduct. Additionally, well-defined procedures for handling accusations of misconduct should be developed, agreed upon, and implemented. Those accused of misconduct should be afforded, at minimum, the same rights that are given to those who participate in the conventional legal system. (Hamner).” The author stresses this conclusion and it’s importance because science just cannot afford to lose its autonomy and self-regulation. There is just too much at stake because of scientific research’s importance to society in developing new drugs and methods of health care.
I found out the scientific misconduct is a pretty big deal and it happens a lot in attempts to get gov. grants
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