Objectives (students will be able to):
1. Describe how ethical behavior is entirely consistent with, and necessary for, good scientific
methodology and reporting;
2. Explain what each of the following is and why they constitute scientific misconduct:
falsification, fabrication, plagiarism;
3. Explain the scientific and ethical justification behind each of the following scientific
conventions:
a. Keep good notebooks
b. Use statistics appropriately
c. Repeat experiments until you are confident of the result
d. Record and report your work accurately;
4. Explain the difference between hiding negative results and morally permitted omission of an
experiment that doesn’t work;
5. Explain what should be included in the “Methods” section of a paper. Articulate the ethical
justification of why this material needs to be included;
6. Discuss the validity of the assumption that erroneous results will be “caught” through
replication of the data in other laboratories;
7. Explain the importance of adequately citing previous work in the field.