2011

CAPSS Bose Institute, Kolkata

[RESEARCH ETHICS & A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL]

Avik Banerjee Roll No. BI/2010-11/61

Research Ethics & A Deal With The Devil

Avik Banerjee

The discontented scholar then calls on the Devil for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure. Mephistopheles, the Devils representative appears and the scholar makes a deal with the Devil. This well-known story of Faust has an immense relevance in modern day research community as well, for more reasons than one. Metaphorically, a researcher in his whole life has to dodge many a deals with the Devil failing which may doom his career and may bring about a severe negative impact on the society. A researcher should abide by some research ethics for his own good and for the welfare of the society.

"I don't know what the word means." These replies quite well mirror what we understand by the word ethics. But it is quite clear that being ethical has nothing to do with following ones own feeling as our feelings frequently recoil us from doing what is right. Nor it is a religious or a legal issue as an atheist can be ethical and law like our feelings can deviate from what is ethical (e.g. the pre-Civil war slavery laws). Whatever the society accepts cant be ethical as well. Cause like the Nazi Germany an entire society can be ethically corrupt. Without much delving into what it does not mean let us say Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

So, what do we mean by ethics? As Wikipedia suggests, Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about moralitythat is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc. According to Oxford English Dictionary it means moral principles
that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity and when it is treated as a singular noun it means the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. These definitions like most

Now let us discuss ethics in the context of research. The first and foremost criterion of ethical research work is honesty. One must honestly produce whatever he/she may have got in the experiment. Fabricating, falsifying or misrepresenting data is a serious offence. Results, methods, procedures and publication status should also be produced faithfully. One should keep his/her original data sets safely at least up to 3 years after publication for these reasons. Another major issue is the respect for intellectual properties. Plagiarism is a serious threat to the originality of research work. Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another authors "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work. Appropriate permission should be taken for the usage of patents and 2

others do not give a clear-cut picture of the meaning. Once sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, "What does ethics mean to you?" Among their replies were the following: "Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong." "Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs." "Being ethical is doing what the law requires." "Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts."

Research Ethics & A Deal With The Devil

Avik Banerjee

copyright protected materials. Proper references to the materials used are of utmost importance for any publication. Plagiarism has got a new dimension in modern days. Selfplagiarism which sounds like an oxymoron is also considered unethical. Self-plagiarism (also known as "recycling fraud") is the reuse of significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one's own work without acknowledging that one is doing so or without citing the original work. Articles of this nature are often referred to as duplicate or multiple publications. In addition to the ethical issue, this can be illegal if copyright of the prior work has been transferred to another entity. Any publication should be done after careful checks and after proper consultation with all the authors. Proper credits should be rendered to all those who are part of a particular project. Using ones name without his/her permissions is unethical. Confidentiality should also be maintained where required (e.g. personal records, trade or military secrets, patient records). Every author should know what are there in a paper to be published as he/she also will be held responsible if there are any mistakes even from the part of his co-authors. There are several social responsibilities of a researcher. Temptation of unleashing any research work which may harm the society or any particular person must be restrained. Any researcher has to be aware of what are the consequences of his work. There are certain legal issues as well. One has to be aware of the rules and regulations related to the particular research. For example research related to biomedical fields, experimentations with GMOs 3

(Genetically Modified Organisms) and cloning or in case of say nuclear research one has to abide by the laws and policies of the Government. Any waste or byproducts (especially the hazardous ones like toxic or radioactive wastes or pollutants) should be handled with care. Proper care and respect should be shown to the animals used in a particular research. Whenever an experiment needs human subjects the risk is even more. The researcher must be aware of the possible side-effects and the subjects should be duly explained about the risks. The goal is to minimize harm and to maximize benefits. Human dignity, privacy and autonomy should be respected. Like the Hippocratic Oath taken by doctors all researcher should take an oath of serving the society with his/her research works. Usage of any natural or human resources shouldnt be done extravagantly. Our country is a developing one. Only a few of us have the privilege of literacy, a fewer have the opportunity of doing research work, a handful get a scholarship for doing one. So we must not waste the resources and we should try to give something good back to the society.

Acknowledgement: Prof. S. Raha. References:

1. Lecture of Prof. S. Raha. 2. What is Ethics? by
Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer.
Issues in Ethics IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987).

Research Ethics & A Deal With The Devil

Avik Banerjee

3. What is Ethics in Research & Why is It Important? by David B. Resnik. (NIEHS) 4. Faust by Goethe. 5. Wikipedia. 6. Mephistopheles flying over Wittenberg, in a lithograph by Eugne Delacroix.