Appendix III
Standards of Conduct
A collection of guidelines for the conduct of research, specific research policies and practices, and policies and procedures for the handling of misconduct was published in 1993 by the U. S. National Academy of Sciences: Responsible Science, vol. II, Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process. National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418. However, the Internet has become the medium of choice for the dissemination of such information. The Web sites of academic and research institutions, scholarly societies, journal publishers, and government agencies now provide easy access to information relating to responsible research conduct. The following provides general information on the location of other written documents that deal with standards of conduct in the research and academic settings.
Appropriate Professional Society Code of Ethics or Standards for Scientific Conduct. Professional scientific societies have conduct and ethics codes, which may be published from time to time, usually in society-sponsored journals or publications. The central administrative offices of the relevant society may be contacted to get these documents. Alternatively, the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology has a Web site that contains many codes of ethics of professional societies, corporations, government, and academic institutions. The Codes of Ethics Online Project may be found at: http://ethics.iit.edu/codes
Federal Agency Documents. Federal agency documents are concerned with such things as procedures and regulations related to the identification and prosecution of scientific misconduct. They also deal with other specific issues related to scientific integrity and responsible conduct. They are usually available at the institutional level or can be found directly in the Federal Register or the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, both of which are available on-line.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html
Often the subject matter published in the Federal Register is under discussion, and subsequent publication occurs. When implemented as policy, the phrase "Final Rule" is included in the title of the article. These documents usually reflect the activities and authority of the Office of Research Integrity of the U.S. Public Health Service (which encompasses NIH) or the Office of the Inspector General of the National Science Foundation.
Conflict-of-interest documents are a good example of federal policy documents. The National Science Foundation's notice, “Investigator Financial Disclosure Policy” (Federal Register 59[No. 123]:33308-33312, June 28, 1994), and the Department of Health and Human Services proposed rules, “Objectivity in Research” (Federal Register 59[No. 123]:33242-33251, June 28, 1994), can be accessed on the Federal Register Web site given above.
Federal and Institutional Guidelines for the Use and Protection of Human Research Subjects and of Animals. Guidelines for human and animal experimentation can usually be located at institutional sponsored programs offices or the institutional offices of the federally mandated Investigational Review Board (IRB). They are frequently found on-line at institutional home pages, usually under the heading of “Research.” Specific URLs can be found at in the links to chapter 5 and chapter 6). Federal guidelines prevail, but special institutional guidelines may augment or supplement them.
Guidelines for Scholarly Publication. Scientific journals regularly publish guidelines for contributors. They may appear in every issue of the publication, at the beginning or end of volume sequences, or at the beginning or end of the calendar year. Such guidelines vary in scope and content and may cover such things as authorship attribution, sharing of research materials, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and communication of results to the media before manuscript acceptance (see chapter 4). The Web sites of journal publishers almost always contain these guidelines. Investigators should be familiar with the publication guidelines of any journal to which they intend to submit a scientific manuscript.
Institutional Policies Document for Conduct of Research. A growing number of academic and research institutions have developed policy documents dealing with the responsible conduct of research. These documents are also frequently found on-line at institutional home pages under the heading of “Research.” Specific examples of such documents may also be found in Responsible Science, vol. II. Other things to look for at the institutional level, either in print or on-line, include computer ethics policies, copyright and intellectual property policies, conflict-of-interest policies, Worker's Right to Know and Hazard Communication Documentation, and Institutional Academic Honor Code Document. These documents are usually distributed periodically, or faculty and trainees are reminded of their location on the institutional Web site.
The Guidelines for the Conduct of Research at the National Institutes of Health are now in their third edition and are a relevant example that can be accessed at: