Responsible Conduct of Research, Part I

Last week I was forced to attend a mandatory seminar for postdocs on the responsible conduct of research. I had avoided it for two years, but after some threatening emails I have now participated in this day-long affair. For the most part, it was mind-numbingly dull. Don't get me wrong, I think it is fantastic to teach people about research ethics and foster discussion about all the murky grey areas that at some point we have to deal with (e.g., what contributions deserve authorship, interactions within the lab, etc.). I'm not convinced, however, that a mandatory day-long snooze-fest is particularly useful.

The people who do perpetrate serious academic misconduct generally know that it's wrong but do it anyway. The people in the news for fabricating data weren't ignorantly going about their business thinking it was alright to just make up results. Even on a less dramatic scale, people will rationalize their actions, knowing that they are doing something sketchy. I have heard many comments like, "I know person X didn't do anything to earn authorship on this paper, but I really want to help them [get into grad school/ get funding/ get a job/ get tenure] so let's add their name to this manuscript." Basically, when people do things that are unethical (or in a murky grey area of possible-unethicalness), they usually are aware of it. In the same way that pictures of diseased lungs on cigarette packs don't make smokers quit, listening to talks about how academic misconduct is bad is probably not going to change the behaviour of unethical people.

Moreover, shouldn't you already know this stuff by the time you get your Ph.D.? Maybe we shouldn't be awarding Ph.D.'s to people who haven't yet learned that you shouldn't fabricate data or that a significant contribution is necessary to earn authorship. This type of seminar would make more sense for senior undergrads or junior grad students, when they are first starting to do research and are still learning how to do research right. Gotta train 'em up right in their formative years! In fact, I had just such a course as a grad student, where we learned all sorts of fabulous things about peer review and authorship and academic misconduct. Useful then, redundant now.

So, by all means, when people start doing research make sure they are taught the rules and expectations for ethical research (and the consequences of violating those rules). Keep an eye out for anything sketchy and address it immediately to stop misconduct in it's tracks. Continue discussing what is and isn't appropriate with your students and colleagues. But don't waste people's time.