Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice (Nursing)

Best Practice in Research

Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice

October 13, 2019

Best Practice in Research

           Best practices are methods or procedures that are generally accepted in research in the delivery of appropriate findings of a study. They are applied by researchers to maintain the quality of the research. Best practices in research refer to the integrity of researchers to pursue and disseminate information while considering their moral obligations. The government stipulates what to be done and what not to; however, the operational standards of individual researchers are guided by their level of integrity (Drexl, 2010). Best practices help researchers create a good relationship with other stakeholders. Respecting intellectual property is one of the best practices that has been employed by the authors. It dictates the actions of researchers by promoting responsible behavior that abides by the standards of institutional practices, lawfulness, trustworthiness, and excellence. Respecting intellectual property as a best practice is clearly depicted in all four research articles.

Respecting Intellectual Property

           Intellectual property in research involves acknowledging the work of other researchers that have been included in a study. Researchers are prohibited from using other authors’ data without giving credit to the author of the initial research. Intellectual property relates to copyrights., patents, as well as different types of intellectual property (Harding et al., 2011). Intellectual property protects the rights of authors, and anyone who uses their information without consent is a criminal offense. It is the moral obligation of researchers to respect intellectual property and use them to acknowledge the source of information if they happen to apply the findings of previous studies in the research (McConville, 2017). Previous research formed the background of all the four research articles. The authors acknowledged the use of other researchers’ work be including citations and references. Writing other authors’ findings as their own would be unethical and a criminal offense. This is referred to as plagiarism. The use of other author’s findings is a form of data sharing, especially in peer-reviewed publications, which are generally used as a secondary source of data.

Conclusion 

           Intellectual property is a common issue in research because researchers, in most cases, compare their case studies with current findings to find gaps that need to be explored. The use of other authors’ conclusions with acknowledging is not only criminal but also immoral. Researchers should provide citations for research findings or ideas of other authors and should never represent them as their own. It is a best practice to recognize the intellectual property and follow the guidelines of research. Best practices increase the reliability of research findings.

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References

Drexl, J. (Ed.). (2010). Research handbook on Intellectual property and Competition law. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Harding, A., Harper, B., Stone, D., O’Neill, C., Berger, P., Harris, S., & Donatuto, J. (2011). Conducting research with tribal communities: Sovereignty, ethics, and data-sharing issues. Environmental health perspectives, 120(1), 6-10. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1103904

McConville, M. (Ed.). (2017). Research methods for law. Edinburgh, U.K: Edinburgh University Press.