Topic 1) (combined) Conflict of Interest and Treatment of Human Subjects
Concerns on campus:
Institutional pressure to produce:
- products / technology transfer
- securing additional grants
These pressures result in:
- cutting corners or changing rules in the middle of a grant or project
- more emphasis on self-interest and less emphasis on public good
Research Coordinators: under-recognized for their responsibilities in mentorship and mediation:
- between the grant as written and the PI’s subsequent interpretation
- between student volunteers and their project/internship advisors
- may be potential targets for blame if any wrongdoing
- with untenured status, have no protection
Potential Solutions for UF:
- Establish certification, training, and career paths for research coordinators, tied to skill sets in the field
- Establish a Research Volunteer Office to coordinate training and expectations
- Develop institutional integration of all levels involved in research efforts
- Goal: to maintain trust in research and researchers
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Topic 2) Research Misconduct: Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism
Concerns on campus:
- attribution and use of research without citing
- more challenging in information age, where new info hits to quickly to trace ideas
- general knowledge – what is plagiarism?
- awareness of acceptable/unacceptable sources (e.g., Wikipedia)
- awareness of tools: RefWorks, Turnitin
- ethical shortcomings in faculty
- review process of allegations: coverups, lengthy, repercussions for whistleblowers
- training needed in standards, codes, clear rules
- training needed at all levels: undergrads, grads, post-docs, staff, faculty
- consequences: severity, remediation, protection of faculty, underreporting
- unethical practices observed by mentees
- patient data - protection
Potential Solutions for UF:
- Clearly define offenses; explain why they are wrong
- Develop consequences/remediation
- Target international education
- Develop clear, standard procedures for reporting misconduct
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Topic 3) Mentor/Mentee relationship
Concerns on campus:
- Poor mentoring
- Not understanding or respecting differences: international, cross-cultural, cross-gender, cross-language
Potential Solutions for UF:
- Clarify roles of mentors/mentees, e.g., the AAMC compact
- Include Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training
- Advisory Board oversight and ombuds to mediate
- Value mentoring in the T&P process
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Topic 4) Authorship and Attribution
Concerns on campus:
- Practices vary widely; not well-charted across disciplines
- Commonality: what constitutes intellectual contribution worthy of attribution?
- Ethical issues involved in:
- Demanding credit inappropriately
- Failing to give credit
- Ethical issues mediated by:
- Power
- Journals (policies, prestige)
- Custom
Potential Solutions for UF:
All agree issues of authorship affect UF’s integrity and accountability
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Topic 5) Peer Review
Concerns on campus:
- Grad students, post-docs, and junior faculty may have no prior training
- In small fields, concern about maintaining anonymity, impartiality, objectivity
- Prevent problems (copyediting, etc.) before peer review; take advantage of services for authors
- how to separate content from presentation
- Level of work required
- Effect on your own work – perception of value
Potential Solutions for UF:
- Add rubrics to Ethics Guide – for manuscripts, grants, posters
- Increase awareness of support or services for authors
- on campus (fee based?), professional editors
- Include in future ethics training courses
- Develop peer review workshops – can be online, but not preferred
- Serve on journal review boards as interns
