Transcript Plagiarism in Medical Writing - Rutgers School of Engineering

Responsible Conduct of
Biomedical Research
Michael J. Leibowitz, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Molecular Genetics, Microbiology &
Immunology
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Email: [email protected]
April 25, 2008
Definition of Scientific Misconduct
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Fabrication
Falsification
Plagiarism
Other definitions (not meeting the
standards of the scientific community) no
longer widely used
Experimental Data
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Who owns them?
Dated and signed
Not removable or erasable
How keep computerized data?
Publishing a Paper
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Why publish?
When you ready to publish?
Who should be an author?
What is your responsibility?
How do you avoid plagiarizing?
Where to submit?
Who reviews?
What to expect from peer review?
How to respond to reviewer critiques?
What are your responsibilities as a reviewer?
Fabrication and Falsification
• Unlike plagiarism, obviously wrong and
requires conscious action by the wrongdoer
• How can this be prevented?
-Supervisors
-Reviewers
-Other researchers
Falsification and Fabrication
• Is it ever possible to omit data from
analysis?
• Must all data be published?
Definition: Plagiarize
• “to steal or pass off as one’s own (the
ideas or words of another)”
• “to present as one’s own an idea or
product derived from an existing source.”
Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
Definition: Copyright
• “the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish
and sell the matter and form of a literary, musical
or artistic work.”
• Note that this includes scientific publications.
Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary
Who owns a publication?
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All authors?
Senior (first) author?
Submitting (PI) author?
Employer(s) of authors?
Funding agencies?
Publisher?
Why is plagiarism the most
widespread infraction despite being
the easiest to detect?
• Many authors may not know the rules!
• Computers make plagiarism easy!
• “Self-plagiarism” is still plagiarism!
How to use the work of others
appropriately
• Reference
• Citation
• When is permission needed? From
whom?
Permission to Re-Publish is Not
Automatic
“The rightsholder did not grant rights to reproduce this item
in electronic media. For the missing item, see the original
print version of this publication.
Figure 3. cat-scratch disease showing inflammation of the
lymph node.
Division of Pediatric Surgery, Brown Medical School.
Accessed August 17, 2007, at
http://bms.brown.edu/pedisurg/Brown/IBImages/SkinST/
Catscratch.html.”
P.M. Rabinowitz et al., American Family Physician 76: 1318 (2007).
Conflict of Interest
• Science should be unbiased
• Financial conflict of interest
• Funding sources as conflict of interest
– Results of Industry vs. Government funded research
• Professional advancement
• Expert reviewer may be conflicted
• Confidentiality; responsibility of grant and
publication reviewers
• Who should review?
Responsibility of Whistleblowers
• You should be vigilant and responsible.
False accusations may constitute
misconduct!
• Whistleblowers and accused have rights
• Think globally, act locally
• Seek advice before taking action
• Role of the Ombudsman
Special Topics
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IACUC: Protection of animal subjects
IRB: Protection of human subjects
Chemical safety
Radiation safety
Containment of hazardous or infectious
agents
• Right to know laws
Responsible Research Involving
Human Subjects
• History
-Nuremburg Code
-Tuskegee Syphilis Study
-Belmont Report (1978)
-All human experimentation must be
approved by an Institutional Review Board
-Outsourcing does not bypass ethics
requirements
Three Principles for Treatment of
Human Subjects
• Respect for persons
• Beneficence
• Justice
Informed Consent
• Voluntary: problems with prisoners,
students, employees, children, etc.
• No undue inducements
• Must be understandable to subject
• Risks and potential benefits must be
presented accurately
• Right to withdraw at any time
• Deception is generally not allowed