Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research

[Lucas]

#3062

As a member of my institution’s research ethics committee, I have seen various types of ethical violations in research protocols. My take is that research ethics covers the entire spectrum of the research process; from conceptualization of the study to literature review, methodology, findings and even referencing. For example, a wrong method of data analysis is likely to lead to wrong results. Wrong results is bad science. To let scientists consume bad science is in itself unethical.

My institution has a well constituted ethics committee which meets once a month on specific dates posted on the university’s website to review and approve study protocols, both from within and without. We have an approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide us. The SOPs is aligned to the university’s Research Policy. We are also guided, monitored and evaluated by the country’s national body charged with the responsibility of ensuring that research ethics is maintained.

[Alta]

#3070

In my field, students are often involved in transdisciplinary projects, which means that they may need to speak to research “partners” before they obtain “official” procedural ethics clearance. Another issue in some of my other work (particularly around mapping) is that procedural ethics may not be required (e.g. when students are using remotely sensed public data), but that analyses may still have ethical consequences that the student need to consider.

In both cases, “procedural” ethics may offer a guidance, but isn’t enough. To me it is critical that supervisors help students recognize that they are ultimately responsible for ethical conduct within their studies, and to cultivate “everyday ethics”, assuming moral responsibility and consideration of ethical choices made in daily research. In practice, this means that researchers need to develop personal ethics policies and principles for engaging in their project right from the scoping phases, reflecting on these principles and approaches throughout their project. The principles that they might draw upon will vary by context, but will include points such as respect and dignity of research participants, transparency and honesty, accountability and responsibility of the researcher, integrity and academic professionalism, and sensitivity around power imbalances and potential impacts of transformative change.

[Jacqueline]

#3080

I am of the opinion that there is some disconnect between the need for ethical conduct of research and the support that the students receive. Every academic supervisor should have the responsibility to nurture the students in ethical research. Even if the students get an opportunity to be taught formally in an ethics course, supervisors should also provide opportunities to create awareness of and discuss responsible conduct of research and its importance with his or her students. This could be done through journal discussions where the supervisor asks students to not only discuss the research approach and findings, but also highlight on any ethical issues in the article. It is just that many of our graduate curricula are filled with the required courses and so fitting a course on ethical research would be quite a challenge.

[Nelson]

#3084

Key ethical practices in my field include plagiarism, confidentiality, provision of feedback/sharing of research findings and honesty in interpretation of results.
We share about such ethical practices with PG students during their coursework in Research methods under ethical practices and principles in Economics research

[Paul]

#3091

Ethical issues pertinent in my field are those that involve animal and human research. Other than the common ethical issues, of particular interest are those regarding the researcher. A research does no justice to the end user if and when s/he employs in-appropriate methodology, miss-uses information and does not give correct report. Moreover, inventing and manipulating data is another serious research misconduct whose prevalence is not easy to establish. Unethical practices such as production of duplicate, redundant and salami publications to gain competitive advantage for funding, may have serious repercussion such as retraction and may dent a researcher’s reputation.

The suggestions so far advanced on nurturing ethical responsibility in our students, are valid. I would add that it takes a dedicated, honest and a supervisor that is a live to good practices and societal trust to inculcate ethical responsibility in a student.

The process for obtaining ethical clearance at my institution are clear and straight forward since we have an established ethical committee board and standards as my colleagues (Lucas and Susan) have pointed out.

[Joseph]

#3099

Ethical issues relevant to my area
– Most of the ethical issues discussed in the power point are relevant to my area
– The choice of topic and framing of the research problem, objectives, theoretical framework, methodology and the entire work must meet stated ethical standards
– Honesty in assessing background information and context of the study
– All relevant literature reviewed must be acknowledged using approved referencing method
– Any borrowing of ideas must be acknowledged
– Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs throughout the research work.
– in library based research one must avoid fabrication, falsification and plagiarism. Adherence to ethical standards must be maintained. In philosophy, religion and theology, human participants involved which means autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice must be considered. It is rare that animals and issues of the environment are involved.
– Sometimes students face the temptation of misreporting data leading to the breaching of ethical standard of honesty.
– Develop and enforce anti-plagiarism policy at the university
– Provide plagiarism checker for students, supervisors and other relevant individuals
– All research work must be approved by relevant bodies in Kenya before any research can be done by postgraduate students.
– National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Nacosti) is a state organization that approves research activities in Kenya.
– Where biomedical issues are involved, Institutional Research & Ethics Committee (IREC) in the College of Health Sciences must approve the research work at proposal level.

How to nurture ethical responsibility in students
– Incorporate a course on ethical observance in the postgraduate programs
– Highlight the significance and satisfaction gained by adherence to ethical standards
– Emphasize the importance of contribution of new knowledge of the research work
– Maybe negatively, bring to the attention of the students the seriousness of being involved in unethical practices.
– Establish ethics research committees in all faculties of the university to ensure compliance to ethical standards
Processes for obtaining ethical clearance
– Stringent measures need to be put in place to ensure that only those proposals that meet ethical standards are cleared
– We have proposed that ethics research committees need to be established in all campuses of the university

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Joseph.

[Sandra]

#3102

Ethical issues that are particularly pertinent in your field
-plagiarism
-improper citation
-shared co-authorship issues, or putting people’s names on the paper when they did not contribute but has to be done for other reasons (not particularly pertinent)
-data collection problems (qualitative research imbues danger of subjectivity and some researchers do not know how to take that out of the equation)
-large claims based on limited, non generalisable data and this being published in top journals

Suggestions on how to nurture ethical responsibility in our students
-with specific courses to tell them what is ethical in scientific research and what is seen as non ethical
-make sure your class include a component on ethical research

Deliberations about processes for obtaining ethical clearance at your institution
– I am not aware of this, but there certainly is a process especially in Medical Sciences.

[Dzivhonele]

#3107

The university has research ethical standard policy on human beings, animals, environment and culture. This ensures that the rights and dignity of subjects involved in university research are protected. The policy promotes awareness of ethical principles and issues in the conduct of research activities thereby clarifying for researchers their ethical obligations. The principles and values enshrined in the constitution of South Africa are respected through the university’s commitment to uphold ethical research standards. This policy prescribes the ethical framework for the university community within which all research should be conducted, while being mindful of the goal of developing an enabling environment. To support ethical standards at the university provides guidelines for seeking approval of the University Research Ethics Committee for research projects. Researchers have to apply for the Ethical Clearance Certificate when permission to fieldwork is granted.

[Rox]

#3120

Thanks for this presentation. While I was listening to the definitions of what “science” is and “should” be, I noticed how much my identity has been shaped by the disciplinary fields in which I inhabit. When I started my graduate school, I was so concerned to fit in a particular ontology of how to organize my thoughts. Throughout the years, I have learn that different schools of thoughts integrate different elements and approaches.
I have learned becoming a “social scientist” is about to be “humble”, “honest” and rigorous at the same time. Humble of what “you don’t know” and “know”. I need to be humble to show the the limits of my research upfront… Honest not only about how findings of my research are within a specific conceptual framework, but also completely honest throughout the process. I have seen several piece of qualitative research when the findings are accommodated to fit the theoretical framework already designed. I have also learned that conducting systematic observation, citing properly, acknowledging the research that you have not reviewed and ask for advise for those who have more experience are essential elements of rigor. Embody the principals of ethical behaviors is an individual responsibility, but peer-review is essential to the process, specially at moments where the outcome of science are over-valued as compared with the process of systematizing prior knowledge.
Now, that I am start supervising students, I try to be explicit about the practice of research and talk openly about the misconduct in research that are so common, such as mis-reference, poor-research design, limited analysis of research questions.
One point that struck from me the presentation that I think it is essential is about how our positionality of researchers allows us to enter specific field and observe the phenomenon in different ways. How our race, gender, class, disability status, religion, interplay in the questions we ask and not ask and the things we see and not see in our respective fields should also be considered in the conversations of ethics with our students.

[Mashudu]

#3131

I think the issue of plagiarism and fabrication is very important for students as they are sometimes in a hurry and want to take short-cuts. Students should be guided on how to hone in on reflection that will assist them be creative and disciplined while critically approach their study.

[Titus]

#3145

I am of the opinion that cultivation of ethical practices in universities should start early. There should be a formal training on issues relating to ethics at postgraduate level; a kind of sensitization on the dangers of an ethical practices to the person engaging in them. One of the key thing that I try to cultivate in my students and contemporaries is to enlighten them on students that at postgraduate level one needs to focus on personal transformation (in theory and practice) in the chosen area of study; efforts should be directed towards “mastering the subject matter”, “projecting a voice that can be heard from the crowd”, “striving to make an honest original contribution” or simply, being an authority in the subject matter. My argument has always been; if a student is not seeking to be transformed, then they need to find something else to do. Transformation does not come through plagiarism, faking results or violating laid down protocols. The PPT in this session emphasizes the need for honesty, integrity and being responsible.
In my field of information technology, ethical issues range from plagiarism of established works, informed consent in research involving human subjects, safely of participants – where dangers associated with experiments are clearly assessed and communicated.
In my university, there is an Ethics Research Committee that evaluates and makes recommendation on all research proposals presented at postgraduate levels.

[Wil Hout]

#3187

Thanks to the participants who responded in this forum on ethical issues in research. From the various contributions, it becomes clear that ethical issues come in many different guises, some of which are specific to particular disciplines, while others are more generic.

An important observation in the comments is that courses on ethics may be necessary but no sufficient in a training programme of new researchers. Some of the participants, such as Alta and Jacqueline, have pointed out that the supervisor has a clear role to play and should take responsibility for the transfer of certain principles to her or his supervisees. The supervisor should consider a role in the induction of novice researchers, both at Masters and PhD level, and make them aware of the ethical dilemmas and principles inherent in academic research.

[Jamin]

#3193

Ethical issues.
 From the PowerPoint, the issues covered are applicable in my institution and field of focus – Sociology. They include plagiarism. A software exists which not only applies to PG students but also on Undergraduate projects to ensure originality and stress on the virtue of honesty in academics. Keeping research reports for future reference, objective allocation of credit, open and honest declaration of financial resources, honest declaration of results without fabrication and ethical clearance are also critical.
 Ethics in research should be instilled and upheld throughout the research process hence forms part and parcel of mentor-ship. The students should be aware of the Do’s and Dont’s in the field and the implications of the same. This is done throughout the supervising and coaching processes. Alternatively, integrate research ethics into research methodology courses.
 On the issue of obtaining research clearance, my university has a clear guideline to this. This is the last stages of all postgraduate research proposals. They must be reviewed by the ethics committee. We are lucky that we do have a University review committee that looks at research areas the directly deal with human subjects. The other researchers must seek clearance from the National Commission on Science, Technology and Innovation that serves not just the students but also Kenyan and international researchers.

[Lilian Omondi]

#3203

Pertinent ethical issues in my field mainly revolve about how to treat and interact with human participants. This may be issues ranging confidentiality, benefits accruing from a research to how to conduct research in an inclusive manner.

Nurturing ethical responsibility in our students must start early, like Susan pointed out. At undergraduate level is good but in my opinion even earlier. Since we are cogs in a wheel that is the education system, these young minds are passed to us from earlier interactions with other educationists and the earlier they learn what is ethical, the easier it gets for these issues to be reinforced at university level.
But also important is how ethical we are when we carry out our own research. Our students observe what we do and are sometimes part of our research teams. So leading by example is critical in this aspect.

[Theodora]

#3209

Ethics is the basis for “progressive knowledge”. Knowledge grounded in falsehood does not stand a chance of making humanity progressive. It is important to make students understand why they should comply with ethical research practices and ensure that they comply with the ones related to their study.

[Author]

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