Problems and Standards in Research Ethics: Scenarios and Situations Common in Medical Schools

Plagiarism

Where should one draw the line between legitimate editorial advice and plagiarism?

Self-Deception

How does one avoid letting one's working hypothesis influence the research and interpretation of data gathered?

What Is Cheating?

What actions are considered cheating? What are the responsibilities of students and professors when they encounter it?

Who Owns the Record? Whose Project Is It?

How should records be kept, and what are the consequences of losing them? Is it ethical for researchers in the lab to read one another's records of an experiment?

Whose Work Is It?

How should one use research information obtained by someone else, and how does one give it credit when publishing the material?

How Do Projects Get Into Hopeless Difficulty, and what Should be Done?

What should one do when faced with long-term unsuccessful research? Should one keep going, or abandon it for a backup project? How should one deal with favoritism from a professor for a more successful student?

Distrust among Members of a Lab

What happens when there is conflict and discontent in the lab? How does one deal with bad attitudes, sloppiness, dishonesty in experiments, and distrust in fellow workers?

Conflicting Priorities and Life Goals among Members of a Lab

What does one do when the goals of the students do not coincide with the goals of their professors? Also, what should one do when there are prejudices between students and preceptors?

Expectations of Advisory CommitteesExpectations of Advisory Committees

There is a misunderstanding between students and their advisory committees due to different expectations of each other. How should this misunderstanding be resolved?

Who Decides When a Student Is Done?

How can a conflict between a professor and a graduate student over prolonged research be resolved? The student does not want to delay his dissertation, but the professor wants to pursue the research.

by Terry Ann Krulwich, Dean of Graduate School

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY