The research product will provide guidance to researchers by describing the ethical foundations of research practices and some of the personal and professional issues that researchers encounter in their work. Besides the key concepts provided in the earlier editions of the guide, the third edition of On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research would address key issues that have emerged since the last edition in 1995. These include financial conflicts of interest, Internet and electronic publications, intellectual property, interdisciplinary research and publication, commercial influences on research agendas, management of human resources, and homeland security.
The committee that will conduct this study will include academic and nonacademic experts in life and physical sciences, social sciences, health sciences, engineering, environmental sciences and engineering, statistics, as well as science and technology policy life and physical sciences, engineering.
The National Academies entity overseeing this committee is the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP). COSEPUP has a long history of seminal work in the areas of science and technology policy, research conduct, and the education and training of scientists and engineers including past studies entitled Responsible Conduct in Research: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process, On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research-1 st and 2 nd Edition, Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers, Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience of Scientists and Engineers: A Guide for Postdoctoral Scholars, Advisors, Institutions, Funding Organization, and Disciplinary Societies, and Science and Security in an Age of Terrorism.
This project will incorporate National Academies Science and Technology Policy interns, who are graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in science and engineering, as part of education and training activities related to this study. The volume will provide guidance to all research disciplines on how to conduct responsible research, and how to respond to concerns regarding the activities of other researchers. The study committee will include representatives from underrepresented groups and a diverse array of academic institutions in its focus groups and workshops.
