Research ethics modules

Author(s): North Carolina State University, The Graduate School, Research Ethics Initiative (Ed.)
Document type: Online material
Year: 1999
Pages: 350
Source: Faculty, university or academic institution: Norht Carolina State University, The Graduate School, Research Initiative
Language(s): English

Classification

National background: United States
Category: Non-EU Training Material for Research Ethics
Subject areas: Animal experimentation; Conflict of interest; Ethical research (fraud and misconduct); Human experimentation
Focus: Main focus; Indicate area of research dealt with: research ethics in general
Content: Case studies; Ethical theories; Important codes; Legal background; Normative reflections
Issues touched: Autonomy, respect, informed consent, subjects unable to consent, role of repesentatives; Beneficence, non-maleficence, risk for the subject; Justice, benefits/burdens, research without benefit for the subject, placebos/standard therapy; International research, research in developing countries; Social background of reseach, conflicts of interest, researcher vs. Doctor, commercialisation; Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism; Ethics committee, research protocols; Research on animals
Audience: Scientists; Students of natural sciences
Classification remarks: The material consists of 10 modules on the following topics: (1) Research Ethics: An Introduction; (2) Responsible Authorship and Peer Review; (3) The Mentoring of Graduate Students; (4) Animal Subjects in Research; (5)Professional Responsibility and Codes of Conduct; (6) Human Participants in Research; (7) Rightdoing and Misconduct in Research; (8) Intellectual Property Rights - Copyright; (9) Responsible Use of Statistical Methods; (10) Science and the Media: Ethical Issues. Each module is organized in : Inroduction (into the setup of the module); Central Essay (on the ethical aspects of the topic; written by various authors); Applied Philosophy (i.e. summary of the basic ethical aspects on the topic discussed); Theme (focus on the main aspect); Case Studies (including discussion questions); Exercises ("thinking outside the box" = side issues); Resources (bibliography).

Estimation

Theoretical quality remarks: Surely, the material varies in it's quality, due to the fact that the central essays are written by different authors. The case studies end with questions for discussion, but provide no solutions.
Didactical quality: Didactically prepared material
Didactical quality remarks: Some of the references/remarks etc. seem to address the teacher, some the students. The envisaged target group not always clear.
Overall estimation: recommendable
Estimation remarks: The majority of the modules are on good academic practice (authorship, mentoring, professional responsibility, misconduct, intellectual property, use of statisticla data, science and the press), only two of which are on the ethics of research (animal and human experimantation, where the latter module is surpisingly short (16 pages), thus the relatively low grades in the correspnding sections. Still, accepting this focus the teacher may find very valuable material here.