Student Research at Duke

RCR, RCR…rcr? So, what exactly is responsible conduct in research? Well, if any of you have seen the movie, And the Band Played On, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. I guess “responsible” research means more than just ethics or certain specified rules in the scientific community. It also includes respect for your fellow researchers and a certain level or expectation of collaboration among peers, even if they’re your rivals. Case in point: Dr. Gallo’s handling of the French discovery of the HIV virus certainly stepped over a few ethical and professional lines, if not many lines. Or, if you’ve read about the recent scandals involving high-profile scientists, such as Korea’s Dr. Hwang Woo Suk’s falsified data on cutting edge stem cell research.

So there you have it. Research, is a responsibility that is shared amongst all scientists. So…don’t falsify, fabricate, or plagiarize. Yeah.

Moral of the story: be responsible.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.