What is Ethics?
Ethics deals with the competing theories of what is morally right or wrong. There are
countless theories available on the topic however none is sounder than the on Christian
ethics that is based on God’s Will. Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie (KJV, 2019). Revealing that his moral character does not
change so that flowing moral obligations of his nature are absolute to everyone
everywhere (Geiser, 2010). There are six major ethical systems that try to answer the
question of ethics in their own criteria. What it boils down to is perspective and personal
beliefs, God bestowed upon has an intrinsic mechanism to determine wrongful actions.
Ethics whether it is teleological or deontological tries to answer the same question of
right and wrong with varying determinants and justifications for arriving at the
conclusion. Does the mean justify the ends is a common phrase relevant to the discussion
of ethics.
1.Why do you think scientist would fabricate, falsify, and plagiarize?
As mentioned by the author, scientists and the scientific community are under a lot of
scrutiny and pressure to deliver results. That’s where the pretense ideology of ‘’integrity
in science must not be withheld’’ stems from. it is immoral to fabricate, falsify, or
plagiarize in lieu of funding or other considerations. The three most frequent underlying
motives for scientific fraud are career pressure, belief of correct notions in the scientific
process and the notion that some experiments can not be reproduced (Macrina, 2014). I
think competitive pressure and pressure to publish is the biggest contributor to research
misconduct. Publishing in this competitive environment with the emergence of OA
platforms drives the need for reputation in helping secure funding for future endeavors.
4. What punishments are appropriate for scientist who have been convicted of scientific
misconduct?
Scientific misconduct weighs heavily on the scientific community when it is committed.
When fraudulent work is published it causes time, money, and other valuable resources to be
wasted as others try to build upon or work on the bogus work (Macrina, 2014). The biggest
implications for research misconduct could be seen in clinical research where falsified data of
clinical trials could result the in physical harm of patients. This type of abuse should not be
tolerated in order to main the integrity and trust of the institution. I believe some punishments
garner criminal prosecutions depending on the severity of the misconduct. The problem with this
would be in how to clarify and rank allegations to specific punishments. There is much room in
how allegations should be handled and improvement in the global clarity of what research
misconduct is will certainly help appoint which sanctions are appropriate (Dal-Re et al., 2020).
5. Should retaliation against a whistle-blower be considered an act of research misconduct and
added to the definition of research misconduct?
References
Geisler, N. L. (2010). Christian ethics: Contemporary issues & options. Baker Academic.
Dal-Ré, R., Bouter, L. M., Cuijpers, P., Gluud, C., & Holm, S. (2020). Should research
misconduct be criminalized? Research Ethics, 16(1–2), 1–12.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016119898400
Macrina, F. L. (2014). Scientific integrity: Text and cases in responsible conduct of research.
American society for microbiology.
Absolutely, those that come forward are doing their due diligence to the field by
upholding their moral values reporting any misrepresentation or fraud that occurred. Misconduct
hurts the reputation of the scientific enterprise but by not reporting it, it will further compound
the damage that will be caused.
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