Introduction of Research

Assignment 3- Summary of learning

The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct:

Interactive Movie

Submitted by,

Christy Maria T S

MS21D008

PhD Scholar,

DoMS, IITM
 FOUR CHARACTERS IN THE MOVIE

Hardik Rao

A postdoctoral researcher, who deals with the competitiveness in an up-and-coming lab while
balancing the responsibilities of a home life.

Aaron Hutchins

A principal investigator, whose overwhelming responsibilities as a professor, researcher, and

grant writer lead to his decline as a responsible mentor.

Kim Park

A third-year graduate student, who questions the use of her data by another researcher.

Beth Ridgely

A research administrator, who has accepted the role as the university's Research Integrity Officer
and must quickly learn how to handle allegations of research misconduct.

SIMULATION – ASSUMING MYSELF IN THE ROLE OF FOUR

CHARACTERS

Beth Ridgely

As the new research integrity officer of the university I will handle all the research allegations in
a wise manner. In order to establish trust I will talk to any complainant face to face. I will send
an email out to faculty. I will understand the vulnerability of graduate students if they assert
research misconduct. To carry out investigations teams of subject matter experts will be
assigned. Even I will also join the investigation by myself. I don’t find Liam’s allegation
credible. I will ask her to come to my office as soon as possible. I will coordinate all activities
and make sure that each step is carried out according to policy. Everything will be done by
keeping balance responsibility for research integrity against the university’s available resources.

Aaron Hutchins

I will be a mentor and engage equally with both post-doctoral and graduate students. Will
reinforce good work habits in graduate students and post-doctoral students. Trust will be built
with them. If a member of my lab reports a credible and substantive allegation I will turn the
matter over to the research integrity officer. I will let Greg go home. I will find time to talk to
Steve & Kim. Then I will turn the investigation over to research integrity officer.

Kim Park

If you suspect research misconduct, I will seek advice from those I respect and will talk to the
research integrity officer. I will not confront someone I suspect of falsifying data. I don’t want to
have any hindrance of future investigation from their side. I will definitely report any instances
of retaliation to the research integrity officer. I will read the proof of the article before signing
the permission form. I will do research with available resources on the website. To research
integrity officer I will explain the whole story.

Hardik Prashad

I will give equal importance to professional & personal life. I will try to bring in a balance
between my research and family life. I will be sure of my principal investigators expectations. I
will never ever manipulate data. I will ask Aaron about his expectations. I will scrap the
experiment. I will not stick to a particular hypothesis and not discard any data because of my
preconceptions of what my principal investigator wants. I will advise Kim to speak in
hypotheticals.
 SUMMARY OF LEARNING

The interactive movie “The Lab” gives us insights on avoiding research misconduct, mentorship
responsibilities, handling of data, questionable research practices and responsible authorship. In
research, decisions of all the parties involved have consequences on the whole. Researchers have
to be well versed with making decisions about how to handle possible research misconduct.
Through facing the problems from the shoes of characters in the movie we can equip ourselves
with inputs to deal with various situations. People can make use of the below model as guide to
stay ethical in research.

Ethical Decision Making Model