Download Science Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research

SCIENCE ETHICS AND RESPONSIBLE
CONDUCT OF RESEARCH
Neuroethics Education Module
Unit 1
OBJECTIVES
• To provide understanding of various external and
internal influences on the conduct of scientific work,
and where ethics fits into this.
• To outline what sort of issues arise in the field of
science ethics, recognising that these are not solely
(nor even predominantly) about constraining science.
• To introduce the concept of responsible conduct of
research, and to examine its meaning and content and
be able to reflect on this in relation to particular
neuroscience fields.
• To consider whether some extensions to the concept of
responsible conduct might be justified.
OUTLINE
A. Influences on the Development and
Application of Science (Slides A1-A5)
B. Science Ethics (Slides B6-B9)
C. Responsible Conduct of Research (Slides
C10-C15)
D. Extended Responsibilities and the Role of
Intermediaries (Slides D16-D20)
A.1 GOOD SCIENCE
What is:
good science?
good scientific practice?
a good scientist?
A1. Supplementary
• Reproducibility
• Peer review
• Ethical treatment of research
subjects
• Accurate note-taking
• Honesty
• Avoiding conflicts of interest
• Publications
• Career advancement
• Use of scientific method
• Risk assessment and
management
• Contributing to knowledge
• Benefiting humanity
• Attribution
• Originality
• Integrity
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dissemination of findings
Responsibility
Competence
Safety
Security
Qualifications
Collaboration
Maximising benefit and
minimising harm
Reliability
Verification
Communication
Public Engagement
Report misconduct
Accuracy
Interpretation
A2. Influences Shaping the Development and
Application of Science – Actors
Employer
Industry
Media
Interest Groups
Line Manager
Senior
Public
Colleagues
Wider Scientific
Immediate
Individual
Scientist
Professional Bodies
Colleagues
Junior
Students
Community
Policy Makers
Funders
Government
Security Agencies
Regulatory Bodies
Publishers
A3. Influences Shaping the Development and
Application of Science – Structures and Values
Moral
Ethics
Education
Security
Professional
Values
Institutional
Wider Scientific
Immediate
Individual
Scientist
Procedures
Safety
Policy
Colleagues
Committees
Community
Regulation
Time Pressures
Accreditation
Markets
Law (national, regional
and international)
A4. Society for Neuroscience:
Policy on Ethics
“The Society for Neuroscience believes that progress in
understanding the nervous system benefits human
welfare.
This progress depends on the honest and ethical
pursuit of scientific research and the truthful
representation of findings.
The entire scientific endeavour is put at risk by
misconduct, including fabrication, falsification, and
plagiarism, and by unethical treatment of animals or
human subjects.”
A5. What is ethics?
• Whether something is good or bad, right or wrong
• Relating to actions and behaviour
• About what is morally good or bad, right or wrong
• And the process through which we consider,
understand and articulate the reasons for moral
attitudes
• Allows us to discuss our thinking about ethical issues
with others
B6. What is Science Ethics? – Issues
These include :
• how scientists conduct their research and report it: e.g.
are they honest about their findings; do they behave in a
responsible manner when handling hazardous materials;
how do they treat human and animal participants;
• how scientists relate to society – do they respond to
public concerns, communicate well, have appropriate
input into policy-making; and
• the impacts that scientific applications can have on
society – have they assessed health and environmental
risks, might their research be misused e.g. to produce
weapons.
B7. What Science Ethics Isn’t:
B8. What is Science Ethics For?
Ethics training within scientific courses and careers can fulfil
various functions, these include:
• Enabling discussion of your work with others, whether
that’s just friends in the pub, the general public, or funders
and policy-makers.
• Ability to engage with and respond to societal concerns.
• Handling issues that might arise in your own work, that of
colleagues, or the broader scientific community of which
you are part – and doing so with more confidence.
• Avoiding ‘moral stress’.
• And yes, it may also be about practical utility at times for
form-filling etc. It is also likely to become part of career
expectations, and will already add to the skills you can
provide for future employers.
B9. Science Ethics
Neuroethics
“recent progress in cognitive neuroscience raises a host
of ethical issues…
Some are of a practical nature, concerning the
applications of neurotechnology and their likely
implications for individuals and society.
Others are more philosophical, concerning the way we
think about ourselves as persons, moral agents and
spiritual beings.”
(Martha J. Farah, 2005, “Neuroethics: the practical and the
philosophical”, Trends in Cognitive Science, vol. 9(1), p.34)
C10. Responsible Conduct of Research
“There are two fundamental types of responsibilities
associated with scientists.
One focuses on the internal workings of science, and
the responsibility to uphold community standards for
doing science.
The other is outward directed, focusing on scientists’
social responsibilities to the larger community, which
experiences the risks, costs and benefits of science.”
(Frankel and Carlson, Winter 2011)
C11. Concepts
• The scientific community:
“the community of scientific workers wherever they are
in the world, sharing the same general conception of
nature and the same basic methodological norms”
(Verhoog, 1981, p.583)
• Scientific responsibility:
“a permanent moral duty of all scientists to participate in
discussions about the role of science in society… to reflect
on the practical consequences of scientific discovery and
to render evaluative judgements on them and even to
undertake political action to affect those consequences.”
(Verhoog, 1981, p.594)
C12. Responsibilities to the Scientific
Community in the Internal Conduct of Research
“Typically, it covers nine instructional areas:
(1) Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership;
(2) Conflict of Interest and Commitment;
(3) Human Subjects;
(4) Animal Welfare;
(5) Research Misconduct;
(6) Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship;
(7) Mentor/Trainee Responsibilities;
(8) Peer Review; and
(9) Collaborative Science.”
(Frankel and Carson, Winter 2011)
C13. Responsibilities to Research Subjects
– The Principles
• Respect for the autonomy
and dignity of persons
• Scientific value
• Social responsibility
• Maximising benefit and
minimising harm
–
–
–
–
–
Risk
Valid Consent
Confidentiality
Giving Advice
Deception
– Debriefing
– Principles of Best
Practice in Ethics Review
– Further Guidance
• Safeguards for work with
vulnerable populations
• Research within the
National Health Services
• Independent practitioners
• Student research
(BPS, Code of Human Research
Ethics – Contents)
C14. Responsibilities for the External
Impacts of Research
“Science and technology have become such integral
parts of society that scientists can no longer isolate
themselves from societal concerns.”
(National Academies, 1995)
“This means that scientific responsibility extends
beyond the ‘doing’ of science to require
consideration to be given to the ways in which
research is applied and the outcomes of this”
(Rhodes, C. 2010)
C15. Responsibilities to the Scientific
Community and to Society in the
Communication and Dissemination of Research
• Publication and other communication of research to
the scientific community is expected to be accurate,
timely, original and to appropriately reflect
contribution to authorship. This will allow validation
and replication of results for example.
• Communication of research outside the scientific
community can be a difficult balancing act between
accuracy, being easily understood, and gaining
attention.
D16. Extended Responsibilities
Responsibilities for understanding and addressing
external factors that impede the ethical application of
research, e.g. political and economic factors.
Global dimensions of scientific responsibility:
• Science as a global endeavour
• Implications for conceptions of the scientific
community
• Extent to which scientific responsibility extends to
prioritising work which addresses global challenges
• Issues of scientific justice and the need for
cooperation and capacity-building.
D17. Extended responsibilities – Cognitive
Enhancing Drugs
• Communication (internal dimension)
– Accurate reporting of e.g. trial data, including
negative results
• Health impacts (external dimension)
– Safety and side effects e.g. consideration of
implications of recreational use
• Social justice (global dimension)
– Affordability and access. Will the drug be
equitably distributed?
D18. Reciprocal Responsibilities
• What responsibilities does society have to science?
– Facilitation; funding; literacy.
– Duty to participate?
– Scrutiny? Debate?
• What responsibilities does science have to society?
– Addressing social concerns and implications;
communication and dialogue.
– Policy advisory role.
– Acceptance of some limitations.
• The impact of intermediaries (such as the media,
professional associations and policy groups, and
academics in other fields)
D19. Role of intermediaries – Case study
on role of the media
Vegetative patient Scott Routley says ‘I’m not in pain’
(www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20268044)
BBC News, 13 November 2012
“It’s the first time an uncommunicative, severely braininjured patient has been able to give answers directly
relevant to their care.”
Uncertainties? Accuracy? Public interpretation and
understanding?
D20. Codes of Ethics and Conduct
• Sources of guidance and materials
– Institutional – guidance and procedures produced
by your department and university
– Professional – standards and codes set by
professional bodies for specific disciplines
– National non-governmental – standards and
guidance produced by groups broadly
representative of the scientific community
– National governmental guidance, rules and
legislation
– International sources
ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
• In your work, what internal influences are you aware
of? Where does ethics fit within this?
• Aside from elaborating some constraints that should
apply to the conduct of scientific work, what other
roles does science ethics have?
• Identify some key internal and external elements in
the conduct of neuroscience.
• Particularly thinking from the perspective of your
own scientific field, what additional responsibilities
might be justified due to the global context of
scientific work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
•
Davis, M. “Instructional Assessment in the Classroom: Objectives, Methods and
Outcomes” pp. 29-37 in Benya, FF., Fletcher, CH. And Hollander, RD. (eds.) 2013.
Practical Guidance on Science and Engineering Ethics Education for Instructors and
Administrators. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
•
European Science Foundation. December 2000. Policy Briefing No.10, Good
Scientific Practice in Research and Scholarship.
•
Frankel, MS. And Carlsson, R. “Reshaping responsible conduct of research
education”, AAAS Professional Ethics Report, Vol.xxiv(1), Winter 2011.
•
Morein-Zamir and Sahakian. 2009. “Neuroethics and public engagement training
needed for neuroscientists” Trends in Cognitive Science, Vol.14(2): 49-51.
•
National Academies. 2009. On Being A Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct
in Research. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
•
Stemwedel, JD. 30 September 2013. “What do we owe you, and who’s we anyway?
Obligations of scientists (part 1)”, Scientific American Blogs,
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/doing-good-science/2013/09/30/what-do-weowe-you-and-whos-we-anyway-obligations-of-scientists-part-1.
•
Velasquez, M., Andre, C., Shanks, T. and Meyer, MJ. “What is Ethics?”, Markkula
Center for Applied Ethics,
www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html. Revised 2010.
Verhoog, H. 1981. “The Responsibilities of Scientists”. Minerva, Vol.19(4): 582-604.
•