Reflecting on Responsible Conduct of Research: A Self Study of a Research-Oriented University Community

Research-oriented universities are known for prolific research activity that is often supported by students in faculty-guided research. To maintain ethical standards, universities require on-going training of both faculty and students to ensure Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). However, previous research has indicated RCR-based training is insufficient to address the ethical dilemmas that are prevalent within academic settings: navigating issues of authorship, modeling relationships between faculty and students, minimization of risk, and adequate informed consent. U.S. universities must explore ways to identify and improve RCR concerns for current (faculty) and future researchers (students). This article reports the findings of a self-study (N = 50) of research stakeholders (students and faculty) at a top tier research institution. First, we report on their perceived importance of applying RCR principles. Second, we explore relationships between stakeholder backgrounds (e.g., prior training, field, and position) and how they ranked the degree of ethical concerns in fictitious vignettes that presented different unethical issues university students could encounter when conducting research. Vignette rankings suggested concerns of inappropriate relationships, predatory authorship and IRB violations which were judged as most unethical, which was dissimilar to what sampled researchers reported in practice as the most important RCR elements to understand and adhere to for successful research. Regression models indicated there was no significant relationship between individuals’ vignette ethics scores and backgrounds, affirming previous literature suggesting that training can be ineffectual in shifting researcher judgments of ethical dilemmas. Recommendations for training are discussed.

Reasons for the resignation of young people from employment

The labour market is constantly changing. Employees, depending on their age, experience and qualifications, have different expectations towards the employer, and at the same time expect other motivators in the employment process. A particular challenge for employers is to motivate young people who enter the labour market, because it is difficult to motivate them in such a way that they do not give up work and want to get involved with the company for longer. Due to the topicality of this issue, the purpose of the study is to indicate the reasons that make young people quit their jobs. The study uses reports on factors determining the behavior of young people on the labor market, as well as the results of surveys conducted among students of selected universities in the Wielkopolska region. These studies have shown that the most common reasons for changing jobs identified by young people are: unsatisfactory pay, a bad atmosphere, and inappropriate relationships with their superiors.

Dual and Multiple Relationships in Psychotherapy

Maintaining appropriate boundaries with clients/patients is a fundamental ethical obligation of the helping professions. Known as dual relationships or multiple relationships, holding more than one relationship with a past or current client/patient can be ethically challenging at a minimum and highly unethical in certain circumstances. Ethical professionals are aware of the potential risks associated with having more than one relationship with a client or patient and consider these both at the onset of therapy and during the therapeutic relationship. This chapter explores some of the common issues relating to dual/multiple relationships and presents ways in which the helping professions frame the appropriate and the inappropriate. Avoiding inappropriate relationships is balanced with the goal of maintaining access to services in situations such as those posed by rural areas.

Trends in financial relationships between industry and individual medical oncologists in the United States from 2014 to 2017: A cohort study.

6520 Background: Industry-physician financial relationships in medical oncology are common and introduce conflicts of interest. The Open Payments (OP) program collects and discloses data on industry payments to physicians, in part to discourage inappropriate relationships. However, the effect of OP on how oncologists engage with industry is unknown. Our aim was to evaluate trends in physician-level payments to test whether the implementation of OP has resulted in fewer physicians engaging with industry and has shifted the nature of interactions towards those considered more appropriate. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of US medical oncologists in 2014 from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System. OP data for general (non-research) payments between 2014-2017 were matched to physician to evaluate receipt of payments over time. We calculated the percentage of physicians receiving payments, annual value and number of payments, and average annual trends over time, including by nature of payment. Results: From 2014-2017, medical oncologists received 1.4 million industry payments totaling $330.6 million. The absolute number of medical oncologists receiving payments decreased 4% on average annually ( P= .006), and proportionally from 67.2% to 59.6% overall. The value and number of payments have not significantly changed. The value and number of payments increased for accredited/certified CME (+821% and +209% annually) and decreased for non-accredited/certified CME (-18% and -25% annually). The value and number of food/beverage payments remained the same. The value and number of royalty/licensing payments increased. Conclusions: Fewer oncologists are receiving payments, but spending has not decreased suggesting that physicians are less likely to engage and industry is more selective. Increased payments for accredited CME suggest that less appropriate speaker’s fees are being avoided. Food/beverage payments are not decreasing, thus these interactions may not be recognized as problematic. Increasing royalty/licensing payments require ongoing scrutiny. Changes in physician payments since the inception of OP highlight the importance of transparency in policymaking.

Specific Concerns for Teachers, School Counselors, and Administrators

This chapter describes the types of sexual misconduct most prevalent in schools and the types of professional conduct needed by educators to counteract these inappropriate behaviors. Teachers, school counselors, and administrators will learn the best ways to organize the physical space in several types of instructional settings as well as maintain professional interactions with students in all settings. Additionally, educators will learn to evaluate their own behaviors and how they may inadvertently be promoting inappropriate relationships between themselves and the students in their schools.

Elected Judges Lead to Less Partial Judges

Canada’s government structure has long used the idea of Peace, Order, and Good government to justify the selection and subsequent terms of long political majorities and appointed justices. This paper will be addressing the research question: should the justices of the Supreme Court of Canada be elected to increase Canadian democratic values or should they remain appointed? Currently the Supreme Court of Canada is selected by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In answering this research question this paper will weigh to the pros and cons of both the current judiciary system and a judiciary section based on elections in order to prove that Supreme Court of Canada justices should stay appointed. A crucial factor in the selection of supreme court judges is the idea of judicial independence. Justices are not elected in order to ensure that there is no partisanship or inappropriate relationships between the judiciary and the legislature. It is argued that this is null and void as a result of the fact that the judges are effectively chosen by the head of government. In the Canadian system, there lies an important balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; this balance of power relies heavily on the Supreme Court being a non-partisan last check on any bills that reach it from the House. This is contrasted by the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has last say on a plethora of issues that affect the lives of all Canadians and Canada is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the power is always supposed to be derived from the people. Any power of government in Canada must trace its power back to the people for it to be considered legitimate. After a compare and contrast of the effect that electing the Supreme Court of Canada will have on the judicial independence and the federal balance of power it is hypothesised that the Supreme Court of Canada should continue as an appointed body.

Specific Concerns for Teachers, School Counselors, and Administrators

This chapter describes the types of sexual misconduct most prevalent in schools and the types of professional conduct needed by educators to counteract these inappropriate behaviors. Teachers, school counselors, and administrators will learn the best ways to organize the physical space in several types of instructional settings as well as maintain professional interactions with students in all settings. Additionally, educators will learn to evaluate their own behaviors and how they may inadvertently be promoting inappropriate relationships between themselves and the students in their schools.