Ethical Responsibility Many research psychologists have research teams they work

Question

Ethical Responsibility Many research psychologists have research teams they work with and some members of the team end up on the publications while others do not. For two months during summer, Ann conducted research as an undergraduate student at a well-known university. She spent long hours in the laboratory injecting mice with opiate blockers to look at pain tolerance. She was responsible for shocking them, as a test for pain tolerance, and euthanizing them at the end of the study. When the article was published months later, Ann was surprised to find her name was only included in a note of thanks. What do you think about this situation? Did Ann have a right to be upset, or should she have been grateful for the opportunity? Why? Do you think a psychology professor who has published a number of scientific articles is more knowledgeable about the field of psychology as compared to a professor who has not published? Why? Use the South University Online Library to investigate the significance of the sequence in which authors' names appear on a paper. Discuss your findings. Given that research involves teamwork, do you think that the hierarchical implications of this sequence are appropriate?

Explanation / Answer

Well, it is very rightly said that any research whether it is conducted by any researcher or is being published should be ethical. By being ethical is meant that due credit is given to all the stakeholders of the research study. In case of Ann, her professor did not give her the credit of her hard work. This is something which is not ethical. Just by giving her a thank you note is not sufficient. In the Ethics Code of Conduct it is clearly written that while maintaining and conducting researches, all the stakeholders must get proper acknowledgment for the efforts they put in. This means that Ann should be upset about not getting proper credits.

Secondly, the professor who publishes many papers may be at the same level of knowledge as a professor who is not publishing. It is not about publishing, any two professors may have in-depth understanding of the subject provided they both are actively and vociferously engaged in learning the subject matter.

Thirdly, if a research is conducted in collaboration among a number of researchers, then their names while publishing the research report must come in the order of efforts each one has put. This means that each contributor must be given their due credits.

The research must, thus, be done as well as published keeping in mind the ethical considerations.

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