Institute for Ethics
UNM's Health Sciences Center
Advancing Ethics Education, Service, and Scholarship
Research Ethics Competencies
The Responsible Researcher:
History
Is familiar with sentinel events in 20th century
research ethics (e.g. research in Nazi Germany, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, The
Willowbrook Studies, the Human radiation studies)
Principles, Standards and Regulations
Is familiar with the major codes, statements of ethical
principles, and laws/regulations that prescribe responsible conduct in research
(e.g. The Nuremburg Code, the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki,
The Belmont Report, applicable government and institutional regulations)
Integrity in Science
-
Understands the meaning of scientific misconduct
(fabrication, falsification, plagiarism) and knows how to respond.
-
Understands the duty to report research errors due to
mistake and/or negligence
-
Keeps good records and manages, stores and retains data
responsibly
-
Claims authorship, performs peer review and allocates credit
for research responsibly
-
Understands the legal, regulatory and professional
definitions of conflicts of interest and avoids exploiting his/her position
for personal or financial gain
-
Mentors or supervises students/trainees in a responsible
manner (i.e. assumes responsibility for their academic, technical and
ethical development)
Research on Human Subjects
-
Understands the elements of, and can secure a legally and
ethically valid informed consent
-
Understands ethical issues around selection of subjects and
research on special populations (e.g. minorities, patients, persons with
developmental disabilities, prisoners, infants and children, fetuses)
-
Understands the function, structure, and requirements of
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
Research/Testing on Animals
-
Is familiar with and respects professional and institutional
regulations and guidelines concerning responsible research on animals
-
Understands and can apply assessment criteria for conducting
responsible research on animals (e.g. the nature and measurement of pain and
suffering in animals, the purpose of the experiment, policies on pain and
death, alternatives to the use of animals)
Contemporary Issues:
Keeps abreast of current and emerging important national and
international research ethics issues such as:
-
Ownership of data, intellectual property and the right to
patent
-
Genetic research (gene therapy, genetic testing, cloning,
uses of genetic information, banking of genetic material)
-
International research standards and practices
(international AIDS research, industry-sponsored research in developing
countries, subject selection and subject consent outside the United States)
-
Research vs. medical surveillance in the work setting
Brief Bibliography
AAMC: Teaching the Responsible Conduct of Research Through a
Case Study Approach. 1994, Beecher, H.K.: Ethics and Clinical Research. New
England Journal of Medicine 275(1966b) 791
Levine, R.J: Ethics and Regulation of Clinical Research.
Urban and Schwarzenberg. 1981
Macrina, Francis L.: Scientific Integrity: An Introductory
Text with Cases. ASM Press, Washington D.C. (1995)
NAS, NAE, IOM: On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in
Research. 2nd edition. National Academy Press, Washington D.C.
(1995)
Orlans, B.F.: In the Name of Science: Issues in Responsible
Animal Experimentation. Oxford University Press. 1993
Developed by the University of New Mexico Health Sciences
Center Ethics Program and the University of New Mexico School of Law. Please
send questions or comments to
ethics@salud.unm.edu.
