The core values that anchor responsible scientific research — like honesty in reporting research results and openness in sharing materials — are stable over time, but that isn’t true for the contexts in which scientists need to apply them.

The landscape of science is changing, as more research is done by large and international teams, for instance, and as more scientists use artificial intelligence in their work.

To help researchers navigate new contexts and ethical issues, the National Academies are updating their widely used guide to ethics and the responsible conduct of research, On Being a Scientist.

The new edition of the guide will examine how fundamental scientific values and standards play out in evolving research settings. The guide will also be updated to make sure it reflects current best practices in conducting research. And it will be released in a new digital format that will make it easier to keep the guide timely and relevant going forward.

“The rapid pace of change in science — its scale, scope, and potential impacts — is introducing new considerations for how scientists conduct research responsibly, making it an important time to revisit and update this resource,” said Michele Masucci, co-chair of the committee updating the guide, and vice chancellor for research and economic development for the University System of Maryland.

The new edition, which will be released next year, will be the guide’s fourth. Since 1989, when the first edition was published, On Being a Scientist has offered guidance to scientists on how to conduct research responsibly.  

In particular, the book is used to educate people early in their research careers — from undergraduates to new graduate students to early-career investigators — about research norms and standards. At research universities, it’s commonly used as required reading for widely offered one-credit Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) courses that are mandatory for most graduate trainees, explained Lisa Lee, senior associate vice president for research and innovation at Virginia Tech.

“It often serves as an introductory text, or importantly, the first concrete pedagogical tool that a research trainee encounters,” said Lee. “It makes an impression.”

Lee was among the speakers at a public workshop in July, where the committee gathered input from the research and education communities about current ethical issues in research and ideas for improving the guide.

Drawing upon that input along with their own experiences working with early-career researchers, the study committee identified four modules to be developed, which —together with a new introduction — will make up the new edition.

One module will focus on responsible conduct and stewardship of the research process, covering topics like the responsible treatment of data and ways to strengthen reproducibility and replicability. Another will examine openness and security, exploring how to adopt open science practices while mitigating security risks.

A third module will examine how to collaborate responsibly, covering topics such as good practices for team science and for mentoring and advising. The fourth module, on earning and maintaining trust in research, will look at the role of scientists in society, exploring topics like good practices for public engagement, transparency about mistakes and misconduct, and ethical issues linked to emerging technologies.  

A format made for emerging ethical questions

The planned online format reflects data on how the guide is currently being used, said Frazier Benya, the National Academies’ senior program officer who is directing the project.

“People are now either reading it online or downloading it as a PDF, a significant shift from a decade ago, when copies of the book were purchased each summer by universities to pass out to early-career researchers at the start of the fall semester,” she said. “The format will also make the guide easier to update going forward.”

This flexibility is important given the still-evolving nature of many ethical discussions. Suzanne Ortega, former president of the Council of Graduate Schools, noted this challenge during the public meeting, pointing to the quandaries raised by AI and how to manage big data. “We’re engaged in conversations around ethical dilemmas for which no clear answers or no clear disciplinary consensus has arrived.” 

Like previous editions, the new edition of the guide will not offer specific recommendations for action or provide details on every ethical issue a researcher might encounter. Instead, it will offer an introduction to what it means to be a responsible scientist and researcher — noting key values to follow, discussing aspects of the research process that need careful consideration to uphold professional standards, identifying parts of the process that require compliance with policies and law, and exploring the responsibilities and benefits that come with pursuing a research career.

It will also include examples of how ethical challenges occur in today’s research environment, together with questions to prompt thought and discussion and possible solutions.

“We hope the guide will provide early-career scientists and engineers with a grounding in the norms and standards that define what it means to conduct research ethically and responsibly,” said committee co-chair Alan Leshner, former CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “And its online format should provide an easy mechanism for keeping the discussions current with the evolving context for science.”

Learn more about the project.