Responsible conduct of scientific research: a one-semester course for graduate students

This course was developed to satisfy in part the requirement that "a program in the principles of scientific integrity" be a part of any training program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (NIH "Guide for Grants and Contracts," vol. 18, no. 45, 1989). The booklet On Being A Scientist (National Academy of Sciences, 1989) was chosen as required reading. The issues were presented in 15 1-h sessions. Public policy issues were not addressed. A danger was to be overly critical of scientific misconduct and stimulate a cynical skepticism of the integrity of the working scientist. One problem is that there are only general procedures a student can follow when encountering misconduct. Numerous guest speakers provided depth, objectivity, and authenticity to the discussion.