Transcript Laboratory Ethics - Howard University

Laboratory Ethics
Matthew George, Jr., Ph.D.
[email protected]
The Laboratory
Notebook
Recording of
Experimental Data
• Essential for protecting one’s
intellectual property
• Determining ownership of ideas
• Validation of results to support
grants and manuscripts
• Allow others to reproduce one’s
work
Components of the
Notebook
Assigning the Lab
Notebook
Notebook Instructions
Table of Contents
Numbered Pages
General Laboratory
Rules*
• Each person in the lab should
maintain a hardbound laboratory
notebook with continuously
numbered pages as a permanent
record of his or her work and ideas
• The notebooks should be kept in a
safe place and not taken home
General Lab Rules
Continued
• Notebooks and their content are the
property of the University laboratory
• The original notebook and all related
data should be returned to the
Laboratory Director when
completed, upon request, or upon
termination of employment
• *Source: Brad Thompson, Univ. of
TX, Medical Branch, Galveston and
the AMGDB
Additional
Considerations
• The lab notebook and its content are
considered to be confidential
• Exercise great care in preserving
them
• Report the loss or theft of a research
notebook to your group leader
immediately
Each Notebook Should
Include*
• Table of contents-listing each
experiment (page numbers) and the
location of all pertinent data
• Entries should be made in ink-not in
pencil
• Corrections should be made by
making a single line-out (leaving the
original legible) then adding the
correction along with ones initials
and the date
Notebook Inclusions
(cont’d)
• Signature and date of who recorded
the data
• Signature and date of a
knowledgeable person who
reviewed and understood the data
• *Source: Brad Thompson and
AMGDB
Each Experiment Should
Include
• Title, experiment number and date
• Names of persons involved in the
experiment and how they
participated
• Statement of purpose (list the
specific question(s) to be answered
by the experiment
Each Experiment Should
Include (2)
• Experimental design. List key steps
in the design. You may refer to
previous experiments or recorded
protocols used in your laboratory. If
you deviate from what is in a prior
protocol, record how it is different.
Provide enough information so that a
co-worker could continue from
where you left off if you became ill.
Each Experiment Should
Include (3)
• Results with original data. Include
graphs or tables that summarize the
data in your notebook
• Conclusions. Meaning of results;
problems; future plans
• Remember, another person should
be able to interpret and repeat what
you have recorded
Protection from Research
Misconduct in the
Laboratory- 1*
• Be sure you look carefully at raw
data from your post-docs, students
and technicians
• Watch while your technicians,
students, or post-docs do research
in your lab
• Be sure you take concerns about
data, or actual allegations, from your
staff seriously
Protection from Research
Misconduct in the
Laboratory- 2*
• Be careful how you resolve disputes
or break up with your former
collaborators
• If you find evidence of misconduct in
your lab, report it and remove
yourself
• Don’t if you suspect misconduct, try
a “trap” or “sting” without informing
officials
Protection from Research
Misconduct in the
Laboratory- 3*
• Do good science, be a good mentor
and show interest in your students’
work, and take responsibility for your
laboratory’s research
• *Source: Alan Price, Office of
Research Integrity and the AMGDB
Other Types of Data
• Working with computer generated
data
• Working with data generated from
“kits”
• Interview and/or evaluation data
• Computer and photo-editing
programs
Resources
• www.amgdb.org
• “Biochemistry Laboratory: Modern Theory
and Techniques”. Rodney Boyer.
Benjamin Cummings, New York, 2006
• Alan Price, Ph.D. 2002. “How to protect
your faculty and department from
research misconduct allegations”.
AMGDB Chairs Meeting
• Brad Thompson, Ph.D. 2003. “Guidelines
for laboratory record keeping”. AMGDB
Chairs Meeting