Interactive Poster Survey Study of ACS Members’ Knowledge and Needs on Research Ethics

摘要

An interactive poster exhibited at two poster sessions at the Fall 2016 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting was used as a vehicle to learn about ACS members’ concerns and needs related to research ethics and to identify opportunities for engagement of the Society by the Committee on Ethics (ETHX) and others in terms of ethics awareness, education, and meeting programming. The poster which leveraged color-coded sticky notes engaged 92 poster session attendees representing a wide array of shareholders from academe and industry. 15% of the participants returned to the poster to learn what other conferees had posted. The study identified a number of critical gaps in knowledge that represent opportunities for ACS, educators, and others to engage members in the vital area of research ethics education and training. These include a lack of awareness of existing resources on research ethics, an interest among members for materials for student training, and concerns about ethical issues in the areas of publications, plagiarism, data-handling, teaching ethics, and ethical decision-making.