Professional Communication in Computer Science Responsible Conduct in Science II Jiri Srba Lecturer: Jiri Srba, 1.2.32, srba@cs.aau.dk 1 / 17
Today’s Plan Misconduct in science. (Case story by M. Nielsen.) Conflict of interest. (Case story by M. Nielsen.) Publication, openness and allocation of credit. (Case story from “On Being a Scientist”.) Useful sources: On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/obas/index.html http://www.onlineethics.org 2 / 17
Case A: Misconduct Mark, a PhD student, is just about to finish his thesis. He has already obtained many good results published at conferences and in journals. According to his supervisor, professor P, Mark’s thesis will be one of the very best ever submitted to the university. Mark has already obtained a post-doc position at one of the world leading university, and the contract forces him to get his PhD degree within a certain deadline. However, one of the requirements of the university is that the thesis on top of the technical presentation of individual results should include a section of 20-30 pages, motivating the problems addressed, relating results to state of the art, etc. Mark doesn’t think much of this and he quickly produces a section as required. In the process, he occasionally copies sections word-by-word from a few books and papers (totaling some 2 pages), phrasing Mark’s views perfectly. Mark’s supervisor professor P does not observe the copying, the thesis is submitted, and an evaluation committee works on the thesis for a period of three months. 3 / 17
Case A: Misconduct (cont.) On the day of Mark’s PhD defense, one of the committee members, professor Q, informs the rest of the committee, that he has become aware of the copying. Also, Q observes that a manuscript is listed in Mark’s thesis as ”submitted for publication”, but the material is not presented in the thesis. When confronted with this, Mark admits that at the time of submission of the thesis, that paper was not quite finished, but that a version has since then been submitted to an international conference. 4 / 17
Case A: Questions 1 Do you see any cases of irresponsible conduct? 2 If so, what would have been the appropriate responsible conduct? 3 What actions should be taken in the present situation, if any? 5 / 17
Issues about Plagiarism Where is the limit? Is one “borrowed” sentence ok, or should it be acknowledged? What about copying your own paragraphs from earlier papers? How to give proper credit? Is it enough to write: “Bla, bla, bla (for more see [5]).” if “Bla, bla, bla.” is verbatim taken out of [5]? Scientists who routinely fail to cite/acknowledge the work of others may find themselves excluded from the fellowship. Some people succeed in science despite their reputations. Many more succeed at least in part because of their reputations. 6 / 17
Case B: Conflict of Interest The research parts of the studies of PhD students John and Jim fall within a major project under the leadership of their supervisor, professor P. The project is sponsored by the university and the national research council. Under the supervision of P, John and Jim have designed a special purpose programming language, SPPL, and the three of them have published a few papers together on this. John also has a small job as a consultant for a local private computer company ComCom, and during private conversations, John has informed them about SPPL. ComCom has shown interest, and indicated the possibility of investing in commercialising SPPL, entering a contract with John after his graduation. John has informally formed a group of colleagues at ComCom in order to discuss ways of implementing SPPL. John has informed Jim about this, and suggested that Jim also considers joining this ComCom project after graduation. 7 / 17
Case B: Conflict of Interest (cont.) One day professor P tells John the exciting news that they have been offered a contract with a different company, which will sponsor a redesign and a prototype implementation of SPPL. It is very important for the university to enter such contracts with industry, and P is very happy with this development. Part of the contract is that the sponsor will get all rights for any future commercial exploitation. 8 / 17
Case B: Questions 1 Do you see any cases of irresponsible conduct? 2 If so, what would have been the appropriate responsible conduct? 3 What actions should be taken in the present situation, if any? 9 / 17
Issues about Conflict of Interest Sometimes values conflict and particular circumstances can compromise—or appear to compromise—professional judgments. What if you have—or might appear to have—a conflict of interest? Many institutions have policies and procedures for managing a conflict of interest. Find out what they are. Always openly, fully and as soon as possible disclose any conflict of interest you might have. Example: You are asked to review an article by an editor and you are in doubt if you have a conflict of interest. Possible Solution: Disclose the conflict to the editor and let him decide what action is necessary. 10 / 17
PC Policy of the Conference ATVA You are considered to have a conflict of interest on a paper that has an author or co-author in any of the following categories: yourself, your past and current graduate students (for at least 10 years after that, it’s up to you to decide conflict of interest or not), your graduate advisors, members of your research group within the last 5 years, a co-author of a paper within the last 5 years, an employee of your immediate organization (academic department, research lab unit, etc.) within the last 5 years, someone with whom you have had a significant funding or financial relationship, such as common projects, within the last 5 years, or a member of your family or anyone you consider a close personal friend. 11 / 17
Case C: Publication, Openness and Allocation of Credit Ben, a PhD student, had been working on a research project that involved an important new experimental technique. For a national meeting, Ben wrote an abstract and gave a brief presentation. After his presentation, he was surprised and pleased when Dr. Freeman, a leading researcher from another university, engaged him in an conversation. Dr. Freeman asked Ben about the new technique, and Ben described it fully. Ben’s advisor often encouraged Ben not to keep secrets from others, and Ben was flattered that Dr. Freeman would be so interested in his work. Six months later Ben was leafing through a conference proceeding when he noticed an article by Dr. Freeman. The article described an experiment that clearly depended on the technique that Ben had developed. He didn’t mind; in fact, he was again somewhat flattered that his technique had so strongly influenced Dr. Freeman’s work. But when he turned to the citations, expecting to see a reference to his abstract or presentation, his name was nowhere to be found. 12 / 17
Case C: Questions 1 Does Ben have any way of receiving credit for his work? 2 Should he contact Dr. Freeman in an effort to have his work recognized? 3 Is Ben’s advisor mistaken in encouraging his students to be so open about their work? 13 / 17
Issues about Publication and Openness Science is not an individual experience. It is shared knowledge based on some common understanding. Once results are published, they can be freely used (and cited) by other researchers to extend knowledge. Before that, researchers using these results are obliged to explicitly recognize the discoverer. If you are open, you will profit from it, at least in the long term. 14 / 17
Deliverable 5 (discussion in groups, individual writing) Write your answers on the questions in cases A, B and C covered during the lecture (see the lecture slides). Did your opinion on some of the ethical issues changed after you discussed the cases in the groups/classroom? Comment briefly on how if your answer to this question was positive. In the report write the names of all students participating at the group discussion. 15 / 17
Deliverable 6 (individual) Select and read one paper of your interest from the recommended reading of blocks 1 to 5. (The paper by Ian Parberry from block 3 cannot be selected.) Write a one paragraph summary of the content of the paper. Why did you choose this paper and what was the most important thing that you can perhaps use in you future professional career? What topic(s) covered during the course did you find most interesting? 16 / 17
Last Slide Deadline for handing in the hardcopy of your journal to the semester secretary: Monday March 5th at 12:00 Last session for DAT4/IS moved to the end of the semester — peer-review of you articles. If you need some advice, help or just would like to chat, do not be afraid to visit me. And ... do not be afraid of science. “Shall I refuse my dinner because I do not fully understand the process of digestion?” – Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925) English physicist. 17 / 17
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