I am passing on the attached announcement from the National Academy of
Sciences about their updated version of "On Becoming a Scientist". The
original document is available at a minimal cost; however, it is also
available on-line from the NAS. The address is as follows:
<URL:GOPHER://xerxes.nas.edu:70/11/nap/online/obas>
I am including the entire announcement for proper acknowledgement!
Terry A. May, Ph.D. Voice: 602-523-6788
Director of Research Administration FAX: 602-523-1075
Office of Grant & Contract Services INTERNET: xxxxxx@nauvax.ucc.nau.edu
100 Babbitt Admin. Ctr., Box 4130
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4130
******************************************************************************
Date: Jan. 13, 1995
Contacts: Barbara J. Rice, Media Relations Associate
George Georgountzos, Media Relations Assistant
(202) 334-2138; Internet <xxxxxx@nas.edu>
Publication Announcement
SCIENCE ETHICS GUIDE UPDATED,
EXPANDED FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Better ways to teach the ethics of research to graduate students and
junior scientists have evolved in recent years. The National Academy of
Sciences has drawn on these new developments in revising its 1989 landmark
publication, On Being a Scientist, so that the ethical foundations of
scientific practice can be strengthened further.
This new version was prepared under the auspices of the Committee on
Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP), a joint committee of
the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of
Medicine. The publication reflects suggestions from readers and
instructors who used the original booklet and from graduate students and
professors who critiqued drafts of the revision.
"Young scientists still learn about ethics in the traditional way --
from experienced scientists in the research lab and in the classroom,"
said Phillip A. Sharp, head, department of biology, Center for Cancer
Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and leader of
the COSEPUP group that revised the booklet. "This publication supplements
these traditional, informal interactions and provides a basis for more
in-depth discussions among junior and senior scientists. One of its
primary goals is to encourage researchers to talk about the core values of
science."
The research enterprise is based on core values -- honesty, skepticism,
fairness, collegiality, and openness. "These values have helped produce a
research enterprise of unparalleled productivity and creativity," the
booklet says. "So long as they remain strong, science -- and the society
it serves -- will prosper."
Since On Being a Scientist was first published, 200,000 copies have been
distributed to graduate and undergraduate science students to acquaint
them with the ethical obligations of scientists. The expanded version
includes hypothetical scenarios for "collective deliberation," which the
booklet says "is the best procedure to apply in using this booklet."
Group discussion can show how different people would react in specific
situations, often leading to conclusions no one would have arrived at
individually. The scenarios will help science students address industrial
sponsorship of academic research, the sharing of research materials,
credit for work where it is due, fabrication in a grant application, and
plagiarism, among other topics.
"It is incumbent on all scientists and all administrators of science to
help provide a research environment that, through its adherence to high
ethical standards and creative productivity, will attract and retain
individuals of outstanding intellect and character to one of society's
most important professions," said Bruce Alberts, president, National
Academy of Sciences (NAS); Kenneth Shine, president, Institute of
Medicine; and Robert White, president, National Academy of Engineering, in
the booklet's preface.
To encourage discussion of these issues in the nation's science and
engineering graduate schools, the NAS -- in concert with scientific
disciplinary societies -- is distributing more than 70,000 free copies to
graduate students nationally. Institutions may photocopy the document for
educational purposes without obtaining permission from NAS. The new
edition also is available on the Academy's Internet server to permit
easier international access.
On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research is available from
the National Academy Press at the mailing address in the letterhead; tel.
(202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. The cost of the 40-page booklet is
$5.00 (prepaid) for the first copy, $4.00 each for two to nine copies, and
$2.50 each for 10 or more copies, plus shipping charges of $4.00 for the
first copy and $.50 for each additional copy. Reporters may obtain copies
from the Office of News and Public Information at the letterhead address
(contacts listed above).
# # #
[Internet availability: This publication announcement and an online
version of the booklet are available on the WorldWide Web at
http://www.nas.edu; via Gopher at gopher.nas.edu; and via FTP at
ftp.nas.edu/pub/]
br:a,b,c,d,e,g,h,i,j,k,l,n,o
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy
Phillip A. Griffiths(1) (chair)
Director
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, N.J.
Robert McCormick Adams(1)
Secretary Emeritus
Smithsonian Institution
Basalt, Colo.
Bruce M. Alberts(1)
President, National Academy of Sciences
Washington, D.C.
Elkan R. Blout(1,2)
Harkness Professor
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Harvard Medical School
Boston
Felix E. Browder(1)
University Professor
Department of Mathematics
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, N.J.
David R. Challoner(2)
Vice President of Health Affairs
University of Florida
Gainesville
F. Albert Cotton(,1)
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Texas A&M University
College Station
Ellis B. Cowling(1)
Director, Southern Oxidants Study, School of Forest Resources
North Carolina State University
Raleigh
Bernard N. Fields(1,2)
Adele Lehman Professor and Chair
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Harvard Medical School
Boston
Alexander H. Flax(3)
Senior Fellow, National Academy of Engineering
Washington, D.C.
Ralph E. Gomory(1,3)
President
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
New York City
Thomas D. Larson(3)
Consultant
Lemont, Pa.
Mary J. Osborn(1)
Head, Department of Microbiology
University of Connecticut Health Center
Farmington
C. Kumar N. Patel(,1,3)
Vice Chancellor for Research Programs
University of California
Los Angeles
Phillip A. Sharp(1,2)
Head, Department of Biology
Center for Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge
Kenneth I. Shine(3)
President, Institute of Medicine
Washington, D.C.
Robert M. Solow(,1)
Institute Professor, Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge
H. Guyford Stever(,1,3)
Member
Carnegie Commission on Science and Technology
Washington, D.C.
Morris Tanenbaum(3)
Vice President, National Academy of Engineering
Washington, D.C.
Robert M. White(3)
President, National Academy of Engineering
Washington, D.C.
COMMITTEE STAFF
Lawrence McCray, Executive Director
Deborah D. Stine, Project Director
Steve Olson, Consultant and Writer
___________________________________
() term ending June 1994(
(1) Member, National Academy of Sciences
(2) Member, Institute of Medicine
(3) Member, National Academy of Engineering
