College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department of Biomedical, Industrial, and Human Factors Engineering

BME / IHE 601 Academic Engineering Integrity Fall 2011 Dave Kender

Outline
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Course Information Syllabus Course Overview Course Rationale Academic Integrity Plagiarism Engineering Ethics

Course Learning Objectives

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Define: academic integrity, plagiarism, fair use Explain the importance of ethics and integrity in engineering and research Compare and contrast ethical behavior and legal behavior Express the WSU Academic Integrity Policy Describe the relationship between the graduate student and their advisor Locate and use research tools available to WSU graduate students Explain the thesis and dissertation preparation process

Course Rationale
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Cheating and plagiarism has become a HUGE problem at many universities WSU has not been exempt from the problem There are a variety of reasons for the problem The best way to avoid problems is to educate graduate students about the problem and clearly identify good and bad practices

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Lecture adapted from Fall 2010 Meg Wiltshire s PowerPoint Presentation

Ethics in Research
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misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.

Federal policy on Research Misconduct http:// www.ostp.gov/html/001207_3.html

Reference: Ethics in Scientific Research by Budinger and Budinger

Publication Violations
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Faking research data 0.3% Plagiarism 1.4% Removing data 6% Multiple publications of the same data 4.7% Inappropriate inclusion of authors 10% Changed a study design 15% Inadequate record keeping 27.5%

From 3247 respondents of 8000 surveyed

Reference: Ethics in Scientific Research by Budinger and Budinger

Scientific Misconduct
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Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting them Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving proper credit. Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion
Reference: Ethics in Scientific Research by Budinger and Budinger

Researcher Unethical Conduct

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Cover-up of errors Misuse of funds Fabrication of data Deletion of data without justification Falsification of data Making major protocol deviations Unorthodox manipulation of data during data analysis

Performance of inappropriate statistical analysis Knowingly performing or participating in unauthorized experiments Misrepresentation or purposeful exclusion of relevant data from others Misrepresentation of originality of ideas, writings, software and hardware plagiarism Failing to report wrongs when there is a responsibility to do so

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Reference: Ethics in Scientific Research by Budinger and Budinger

Plagiarism
The false assumption of ownership, the wrongful act of taking the product of another person s mind, and presenting it as one s own. Ref: MLA Handbook, Chapter 2, page 46 An act of theft in which you steal another person s idea or his or her expression of an idea, and then represent it as your own. Ref: Dr. Leo Finkelstein Jr., Pocket Book of Technical Writing

Causes of Plagiarism
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Accidental - Poor note taking/documentation Belief that minor word changes constitutes your own work Peer pressure from friends/students/community Poor time management Writing in a second language and worrying about grammar

You have plagiarized if

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Your notes fail to distinguish summary and/or paraphrase You copy and paste from the web without enclosing in quotes and citing the source You presented facts without citing where they were found You repeated or paraphrased another s work w/o citation You took another s unique phrase without citing You paraphrased someone s ideas without citing You bought or obtained a paper written by another and handed it in as your own.

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Reference: MLA Handbook, Chapter 2, page 75

Engineering Ethics
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The rules and standards which govern the conduct of engineers in their role as professionals Engineering ethics are similar to general ethics, but apply to the specific issues which affect engineering professionals Because of its importance to all engineers, ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) now mandates that ethics be included in the engineering curriculum

Reference: Engineering Ethics by Fleddermann