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Introduction:
1. This
charter is developed so as to be a guide to direct not only all of the parties
who are benefiting from the Scientific Research process conducted at the
Faculty including the researchers, themselves,
the supervisors, and the professors but the whole community as well towards the
best and appropriate behaviors of Scientific Research. The document has also
identified the standards of well behavior, honesty, ideals, and general
principles that are necessary for discussing the ethical issues that should
prevail throughout the whole society.
2. For setting
the standards and guidelines of this document, it was necessary to
differentiate between the legal and lawful behaviors on one side and the
ethical behaviors on the other side, while bearing in mind the existence of
several intertwined spaces between them that should be considered when
discussing any matters in relation to the Faculty.
3. This
document has identified a group of standards that are necessary for fulfilling
a good ethical behavior adding to considering the possibility to measure their
indexes on actual basis with great transparency and honesty.
4. These
standards have been developed upon reviewing and studying several documents
pertaining to correspondent academic institutions inside or outside Egypt. The
available data and information were collected and analyzed so as to end up
having a number of standards that cope and consist with the various Faculty's
activities that can be measured.
5. This
document especially addresses the entire authorities which are competent with
Scientific Research in the Faculty in addition to the parties responsible for
or contributing to the preparation of Scientific Research. It also aims at
promoting and applying the general standards of scientific ethics when
preparing and conducting these researches. The document sheds light on the
methodologies that should be followed when encountering any violations to these
standards in addition to covering a number of general measurements and
standards that should be applied on scientific behavior alongside the breaches
that may encounter these standards and measurements, the methodologies of
preventing any violations to scientific/academic honesty, and the factors that
may play a significant role in this regard. Moreover, this paper does also
provide a synopsis about a group of instructions for dealing with these
possible violations to the scientific honesty, in addition it concludes with
mentioning some of the notes and remarks about the penalties and sanctions that
may be imposed on the employer in the event of verifying any malpractices in
the institution.
- The main principles of the ethics of Scientific Research
Scientific Research varies in their
fields and natures through covering various topics similarly to the
methodologies of research. Besides, there are several general principles that
should be followed and adhered to regarding all the branches that are related
to the standard matters of research and behavioral rules that are to be
followed. Hence, the ethics of Scientific Research require the respect of the
rights, dignity, and opinions of others whether being fellow researchers, or
participants at the research, or even the categories targeted through the
research, while noting that the aforementioned ethics of Scientific Research
adopt the two values of "Positive Work" and "Harm
Avoidance" that should be considered as two fundamental bases of the
ethical considerations within the research process.
- There are some considerations that are related to the ethical behavior
and they include:
-
Truthfulness (Credibility)
-
Expertise
-
Safety
-
Trust
-
Consent
-
Withdrawal
-
Digital Recording
-
Feedback
-
False Hope
-
Vulnerability
-
Exploitation
-
Anonymity
In order to explain these
considerations, we will mention them in details as follows:
1)
Truthfulness
(Credibility)
The results of your Scientific Research
should be credibly and honestly conveyed. You – as a researcher- should be
honest in conveying the mentioned results while refraining from completing any
incomplete or insufficient information depending on any incidents you thought
they were happened and avoiding the addition or insertion of any data to
depending on the results of the theories or on other persons.
2)
Expertise
(Experience)
The research that you are conducting
should be suitable for the level of your experience and training skills.
Therefore, Firstly, you have to prepare the initial work, then try to
comprehend the theory accurately prior to the application of the concepts or
procedures. Any person, who is excelling the domain of your research, will be –
indeed- your best supporter when selecting the topics that you are going to
analyze and review.
3)
Safety
You should not expose yourself to any
physical or ethical harms, thus you have to take the entire necessary
precautionary measures when performing all of the experiments, without
attempting to implement your research in an environment that is imposing any risks
on the geological, climate, social, or chemical levels. The safety of the
individuals targeted through the research represents another crucial issue as
you should not embarrass or expose them to any harm through your
research.
4)
Trust
The scientific research process depends on the mutual trust between
scientists, thus each researcher should conduct his/her research accurately and
with due diligence so as to build up the necessary trust with the other
participants so as for them (the participants) to be more co-operative and for
the researcher to get the necessary accurate results. The researcher should
never exploit the trust of the parties he/she is studying and analyzing their
cases.
5)
Consent:
You have to always make sure that the
prior consent of the parties you intend to work with during the research period
is obtained as they should be aware of the fact that their cases are being
studied and analyzed. For example, should you need to enter any the properties
of others, you have to obtain their consent first. Failure to set an accurate
initial plan for your research will lead you to search for another
location/site and –then- start all over again.
6)
Withdrawal:
The persons their cases are being studied, or those participating in the
research or even the students, reserve the right to withdraw from the study at
any given time. Moreover, it should be taken into consideration that the
participants are usually volunteering in the research; hence they have to be
treated with great respect as they may spend the time they spend the time they
specify for the participation of the research in a more profitable job.
Therefore, you have to expect the withdrawal of some of the
participants, and it would be better if the study process covers the larges
rang of participants so as to resume the research to assure that the results
are of effective and significant meaning.
7)
Digital
Recording
You are not allowed to record any audio tracks or videos or capture any
photos without obtaining the prior consent of the parties been targeted through
the research before recording any audio tracks or videos or capturing any
photos. Do not attempt to hide any photography devices or audio convertors for
recording the voices and movements of the targeted participants, thus you
should realize that requesting the prior consent of those parties after
recording their voices or capturing their photos is considered as un acceptable
matter.
8)
Feedback
(Corrective Feedback)
If you are able to give the targeted individuals the necessary
corrective feedback of your research, you should do so. Moreover, you may not
be able to provide them with a detailed and complete report; however, you may
be able to grant them a synopsis or certain phrases or recommendations that may
be important to them. It is also necessary to let the participants review any
photos, audios, or printed texts of the phrases that they have previously
mentioned, prior to the publication of the research so as not for them to incur
any moral or physical damages due to your interpretation of what they have said
and done. Kindly, confirm granting /obtaining the prior consent prior to the
publication of the research.
9)
False Hope
Do not let the targeted participants think
– through your questions – that certain matters will be changed as a result of
the research or project you have conducted or implemented. Try not to give any
fake promises that are not included within the scope of your research or
authority or position or influence.
10)
Vulnerability
Some of the targeted participants may suffer from feelings of defeatism
due to their elder ages or illness or their inability to express their feelings
or comprehend, therefore; you should care for the feelings of those parties.
11)
Exploitation
Do not exploit any situation for your own interest so as not to explain
what you have noticed or what has been said by others in an indirect way so as
to serve your research.
12)
Anonymity:
You have to protect the identity of the
targeted individual during all the study periods, while refraining from giving
any names or hints that may lead to disclose their real identities. This
procedure may be implemented through decoding the names into digital numbers or
symbols and assuring the harmony between all of the beneficiaries up the
termination of the study.
- The ethical principles that are related to the Scientific Research
Process.
Scientific Research requires the availability of a group of values and
principles. It will be misinterpreted if the research process is depicted as
only mere comprehension of a group of bases and procedures that are related to
the determination and preparation of the research design, data collection, and
statistical processing of the data and reports of the research, rather there
are a group of ethical criteria that are connected to each phase separately.
The researcher should be aware of these criteria and values through his or her
dealing with other human beings who have their own rights and dignities that
should be reserved.
Scientific Research can –thus- be defined as an ethical and
methodological process that leads to the attainment of more knowledge about the
various phenomena alongside the settlement of any problems in both the
educational and psychological fields. Therefore; scientific researchers should
have certain ethical characteristics adding to other cognitive and
methodological qualities which include: Honesty, Credibility, and Objectivity.
1)
The
ethical principles of scientific research planning:
As the scientific researcher starts to think about the
research's topic and the preparation of its design so as to answer all the
inquiries of the topic, two fundamental points should be considered:-
The First
Point: The plan of the research should not be a repeated one that
is typically conveyed from a previously conducted study in a way that may raise
suspicions about the integrity of the scientific researcher. This will never prevent
the researcher from setting a study that is comparative to another one that has
been conducted within different environment. However, these procedures should
be governed by certain restrictions and controls which include: Clear reference
and indication to the original study and the availability of any academic
benefit that justify the repetition if the previously conducted study within
any other different environment.
The Second Point: There should not be any possibility that the
conducted study is to cause any apparent or possible damages or harm to other
persons. In the event causing the aforementioned harm to others, the researcher
should recourse to any party who may provide him/her with sincere consultations
in relation to the methods of conducting any study for gaining a scientific
benefit while refraining from causing any harm to the participants.
2)
The
ethical principles of Data Collection Process
Most of
the ethical problems emerge during the period during which the researcher
begins collecting the data from the participants. This period can be considered
a critical situation as the researcher needs to balance between various
contradictory decisions specially the ones that are connected to the
participants in this study.
For Instance:
If there is a need to get certain information for conducting a
scientific research that is related to children abuse, in this case, would it
be acceptable to continue in the research to reach new results despite its
negative impact on individuals, or shall we sacrifice these results for the
sake of preserving the private rights of the children.
Generally, these ethical problems related to data collection vary from
one field to another. For example, in a study some patients are injected with
cancerous cells in certain hospital in order to determine to what extent human
bodies are resistant to these cells. This study could be acceptable if the
patient is completely aware of these steps and accepts to be a volunteer in
such study. However, if the patients get false information concerning this
study, it can be considered a direct violation of the patient's right to know
the methods of treatment.
Among other problems in which the researcher needs to think about is the
effect of his/her interaction with the environment.
Among the most frequent ethical charters is the ten ethical principles
decided by the American Psychological Association (APA) for doing researches
applied on human beings:
1)
In planning for certain
study, the researcher bears personal responsibility concerning ethical criteria
connected to the study.
If the researcher finds any difficulty to
completely adhere to this study for scientific and human considerations, the
mentioned researcher should ask for advice and think about the necessary
preventive measures so as to protect and maintain the participants.
2)
The responsibility of
acceptable ethical practices always falls upon the researcher who should be
–also- responsible for the ethical practices of his/her assistants, colleagues,
and those who help him/her in the research.
3)
The researcher bears the responsibility
for informing the cases he/she is studying with all the research's conditions
which could probably have an impact on their decisions concerning their desire
to participate in the research. The mentioned researcher should also answer all
the inquiries of all the cases he/she is studying about the traits that may
affect their desire to participate.
4)
Openness and integrity are
two main traits which should control the relationship between the researcher
and the participants of the research. In case the study requires a violation of
these traits, the researcher should make sure that the participants understand
the reasons for this action and should be keen on the relationship of the
participants.
5)
The researcher should
respect the individual's freedom refuse to participate in the research or to
refuse to continue participating in the research at any time. The researcher is
responsible for the participants' dignity and happiness.
6)
The morally acceptable
research should start with a clear agreement between the researcher and the
participants so as to pinpoint clearly the responsibilities of both of them and
such researcher should be committed to all the promises and obligations
included in this agreement.
The researcher should not mislead the
individuals or give them false hopes.
7)
The participants should be
protected from any physical or mental uncomfortable conditions or danger they
may be subjected to. If there is a possibility that these dangers may occur,
the researcher should inform the participants and get their consent and take
all measures to decrease the dangers.
8)
Upon the completion of the
data collection process, the researcher should provide the participants with a
full and detailed illustration of the nature of the study and with a complete
abstract that contribute to eliminate any inaccurate perspectives that may have
come through their minds. In the event of the existence of any scientific or
humanitarian considerations requiring the delay of the presentation of the data
or even withholding them, the researcher should hold special responsibility for
confirming the existence of any destructive impediments for the participants.
9)
In the event of
ascertaining the possibility that the procedures of the research cause any
undesirable impediments for the participants, the researcher will be
responsible for eliminating these effects including the entire long-term
effect.
10)
The data been collected
from the participants during the whole research period should be kept as
confidential.
3)
Ethical
principles of data manipulation:
- These traits are represented in the researcher's keenness on the
confidentiality of the data of each participant. Besides, the researcher should
not exploit these confidential data in the defamation of those who have trusted
him/her or for blackmailing them (the participants). What is known/believed
about the manipulation of the data of the individuals is also know/ believed
about the data to certain institutions.
- Another ethical dilemma that may face the researcher after he/she finds
that the results he/she gets after
processing the data shows that the point of view his/her research adapts is
incorrect; whether this adaptation is inclusive or explicit. The researcher may
-in such cases – try to modify the raw data in order to get results which
support the point of view adopted in the research. This is considered a breach
of scientific integrity and a lack in the understanding of the nature of
scientific research because the result of the research whether positive or
negative or null shows a scientific participation as long as the research
follows the principles and procedures of scientific research. The researcher's
attempt to modify the data shows that he/she has no inner feeling about the
fact that he/she didn't honestly follow these principles and procedures.
- So, the researcher must adhere to these principles and procedures and
must be honest when dealing with his/her research data. Furthermore, the
researcher should be subjective when he/she criticize his/her research and must
be aware that the results of the research will be regarded as a reference for
other researchers.
- Another ethical problem that faces the researcher is related to the
choice of the statistical methods that are to be used when processing the data.
So, such researcher could choose the best statistical method that will prove
the point of view that he/she has adopted in his research, thus this shows that
the research choice is not based on scientific principles but on his personal
views and that he/she is not going to subjective nor honest in his view. For
example, some researchers tend to use the same tools in their researches in
different ways based on the fact that using the same tools gives constant
results more than using different tools for the same the same data. This is
ethically acceptable and it does not oppose scientific considerations, however,
if the choice of statistical system is based on the same system it will lead to
showing one point of view preferred by the researcher then the mentioned
researcher will be ethically in trouble because this contradicts his/her status
as an objective processor of data.
- Some of the risks that threatens serious research:
There are several rules that may face
serious research that attempts to solve scientific problems: among these risks
are the following:
1)
Reaching premature results.
2)
Ignoring opposing results
or these which do not agree with the results that the researcher has reached.
3)
Thinking within the box
i.e. lacking originality.
4)
The inability to get all
the facts related to the problem.
5)
Inaccuracy.
6)
Mistakes in following the
signs of cause and effect.
7)
Being subjective and having
preconceived judgments.
- Forming immature results
Often, some researchers' enthusiasm makes them rush in adopting an
exciting point of view even though they are aware they do not have enough evidence
to support it. If they were more patient and worked longer on following the
fact, they would not have committed such a mistake because the precise
researcher does not express his/her thoughts except after testing all
hypotheses and reaching conclusive evidence.
-
Ignoring Opposing
evidence
The researcher may be so enthusiastic about the hypotheses he/she
follows which may make him/her ignore important opposing evidences. This may be
excused in political debates, because the objective would be winning a round of
talks and discussions at any price. However, scientific studies do not aim at
winning debates and discussions but aim at discovering the truth, thus,
opposing evidences must be given the same importance as positive evidences even
if this changing the original
hypothesis.
- The habit of thinking within the box
- Nothing can damage fruitful researcher more than being limited to
certain habits throughout years. Psychologists say that even simple issues such
as adding certain number, people are always inclined to repeat the same
mistakes. A researcher has to exert all his/her efforts to encourage
himself/herself to avoid typical attitude of thinking and to encourage himself
to follow new trends of thinking.
The researcher's inability
to reach all facts related to the problem:-
The researchers sometimes face certain difficulties
to reach the required facts to form sufficient evidence that leads to correct
results.
Researchers frequently commit mistakes
when they build their results upon incomplete results.
Inaccuracy during
observations:-
A researcher frequently needs to repeat some
experiments that he/she previously did to check that all the observed results
were correct. Besides, researchers frequently ignore some elements and focus on
some others according to his/her point of view.
Mistakes in following cause
and effect process:-
A researcher has to be cautious to the
dangers of following cause and effect process and to be able to rephrase these
relations.
An example that is always raised in
this filed is that one the narrator once said that throughout years in which
the Arabic Club in Kuwait won football championship, prosperity prevailed and
prices were very law in Kuwait. At this time, Kuwait tried to reach prosperity
and overcome price increase by following ways to pave the way for the Arabic
Club to win Football matches. Unfortunately, there are critical results based
on certain situations just for fun.
The Lack of Objectivity:-
Truth and wisdom should be the aim of
the researcher and the students done by some researchers to support certain
concepts and ideologies to which the researcher is committed before even starting
the research, they certainly serve doubtful purposes. Thus, the researcher
should work on this research objectively without bias so that his/her results
are correct as far as possible.
Brach of Integrity:-
The means by which scientific integrity
may be breached:
Scientific research may be breached
before doing the research (when getting the approval or allocating the research
mission, or when planning the research). The breach may occur when working on
the research or presenting and publishing the results.
Three types of Scientific
Integrity breaching may be defined:-
1)
Cheating
2)
Fraud and Delusion
3)
Plagiarism
Examples of Scientific Integrity breaching:-
1)
Misinterpretation of
sources studies.
2)
Presenting results in
selective manners.
3)
Presenting unreal (false) data
after an experiment.
4)
Intentionally applying statistical methods in
a wrong way.
5)
Misinterpretation or
falsification of research results.
6)
Plagiarizing of results or
publications belonging to others.
7)
Omitting the names of the
assistant authors who have significantly contributed in the research and adding
the names of those who have not significantly participated or contributed to
the research.
8)
Carelessness in doing the
research, or giving instruction to do it or ignoring the procedures which help
to reveal mistakes and inaccuracy.
9)
Carelessness in following
the rules of dealing with confidential data on reprinting designs on computer
software without permission.
Preventing scientific breaches:-
All efforts should be exerted to make researchers respect the basic
principles of professional scientific behavior: Among the methods that should
be followed in this filed are:
1)
Training and Practices
which develop the right skills.
2)
Increasing the awareness
and culture of the criteria of the ethics of scientific research.
3)
The existence of binding
and transparent rules which should be applicable on everyone.
Examples of scientific misconduct:-
There are many cases for books in the
international press, for example; a neurologist comes with results for an
experiment in which he pays money for each case under study. Another example, a
psychologist once plagiarized tests from an American colleague without
mentioning him in the bibliography. Besides, biochemist announces hypothesis to
recover HIV patients. Furthermore, a researcher in the field of environment was
obliged by the project's financer to adjust some research's results.
Prior to this, some authors were
able to uncover great number cheating cases.
Sanctions:-
1)
If a scientific misconduct
is clearly verified, there are many sanctions that can be taken beginning from
warning and reaching fining in the worst cases.
2)
The responsibility of
applying any sanction is included within the responsibilities of Faculty
Councils in the Higher Councils in addition to the specialized investigation
bodies. Consequently, there is no chance to recourse to the higher formal
authorities. In this case, applying sanctions will be limited to academic
community.
3)
Working on developing the
researches' scientific conscious and sense of responsibility will be the core
of the issue due to its scheme importance. Improving and developing these
values enable the scientific field to fight and ban misconduct and cheating activities
instead of making sanctions the only warning.
Forming Committee for Scientific Research Ethics:-
It's a must to follow certain
procedures if there is any doubt that the scientific behavior principles are
violated.
The Faculty is obliged to form an
ethical committee for scientific research to follow up the compliance between
scientific research and the rules of integrity and bearing the responsibility
in addition to integrity in research for all participants who benefit from
scientific research. In addition to that, a specialized referral authority is
appointed to follow integrity and to be notified if any cheating case related
to scientific behavior misconduct is verified.
Duties and Responsibilities:-
People who work within the scientific
research are all responsible to be sure that rules are applied to prevent any
scientific misconduct.
