University of Vermont
RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)
Ethics are fundamental to all academic research. They foster the trust necessary for complex modern research institutions to function. In particular, researchers’ behavior must inspire their colleagues’ trust in their research results and the public’s trust that the information created through university research is reliable and that public funding of research is valuable.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that all NIH trainees receive training in research ethics has increased interest in research ethics and the National Science Foundation (NSF) has a new RCR education requirement for students and postdoctoral researchers involved in NSF proposals. These resources are designed to assist the University community in meeting these responsibilities.
The scientific research enterprise, like other human activities, is built on a foundation of trust. Scientists trust that the results reported by others are valid. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists to describe the world accurately and without bias. The level of trust that has characterized science and its relationship with society has contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity. But this trust will endure only if the scientific community devotes itself to exemplifying and transmitting the values associated with ethical scientific conduct.
National Academy of Sciences, On Being a Scientist (1994)
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/obas/preface.html
Last modified September 09 2009 12:31 PM
