Research Ethics

The quote from our Magic: the Gathering card for today sounds satirical and tells more beyond what is said. Conducting ethical practice should, at the very least, be guided by principles as basic as the Golden Rule or the Law of Karma. For more rational people, actions have consequences, and today, we explore them regarding a research career. All researchers are expected to know ethical research practices, and I won't iterate those lessons, but I'll explore their practicalities.

Respect your resources.

A funded researcher had two research assistants. This researcher overlooked all the errors and laziness of one of the assistants, thus causing more burdens for the other assistant. Eventually, the other assistant stopped pointing out the errors of the lazy one since if he did, the researcher would just lump the task back to him. The project resulted in a manuscript that has just seen positive remarks from any journal. 

Funding is not the only research resource. Research requires several resources. Data, these come from our primary sources - the people whom we interview. For collection and management, this includes the research staff and even third-party consultants. Respect and politeness, or what Filipinos call delicadeza, will go a long way because most of the resources in the social sciences come from our social networks.

What about if you are just a student, without even any funding? You still need to treat your research with respect. And no matter the funding, you will also need to engage with different members of society to collect your data.

What's an ethics certification for?

An ethics certification is needed if you study vulnerable subjects. I.e. children, and marginalized people whose stories, when published, can touch on certain social sensitivities. Hence, you polish all aspects of ethical practice as mentioned in your methodology, then submit your manuscript for evaluation BEFORE data gathering. 

You can't be certified after data has already been collected.

You can only get published in a reputable journal if you have certification.

Refrain from blabbing about your stuff to everyone.

Your ideas are only really yours once you have made your stamp on them. That means you need to publish. The least you can do is present at an international professional conference. This is not a publication but tells the world you have declared this idea yours. So also make sure you have pored through all relevant literature to proudly say that your argument is yours. Other than that, if you keep blabbing about any researchable idea, some carrion feeder might be listening and stealing your idea and even end up publishing before you.

So, make sure that you conduct research ethically; karma will get you.

Tune in next week when we discuss the ethical strategy of branching from another person's ideas.

Image Source: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=602578