Responsibility
The Basics
Your Responsibility as a Researcher
One could argue that there are no higher purposes than seeking truth. Ultimately, that’s what researchers do. We’re highly trained, skilled, and knowledgeable (at least eventually), and with all of that comes responsibility. Some types of responsibility that you should have towards your project and research, in general include:
Being skeptical – you should always question your own results (and the results of others) and think critically about all potential conclusions your data could support and systematically rule any of the conclusions out that you possibly can.
Being honest – there’s a fine line between convincing others of the importance of your work and dishonesty. You have to find a hook, but be cautious. If you oversell your results, withhold results, fail to verify your findings, or go so far as to falsify data, you do an injustice to the entire field. Your reputation is everything. Take is seriously.
Communication of errors – it’s easy to make errors, it’s how you handle them that speaks to your character. Don’t hide them. Instead, report them, whether to your PI or journal containing your work or funding agency.
Educate yourself – if you wait for someone else to tell you everything you might need to know, you are offloading a large portion of your responsibility as a researcher onto someone else. Figuring out what you don’t know and learning it is key to success in research. This includes knowing the foundational knowledge, resources, and regulations related to your field. Always Be Learning…ABL.
Authorship – anyone who significantly contributes to the idea, design, execution, or interpretation of the work should be considered an author. Including more or less authors than those that meet these criteria is unethical. If you aren’t sure, ask your PI or the people in question.
Publication practices – don’t be withholding of key steps in a method when publishing. People should be able to replicate your work. Publish complete work/findings in only one place instead of separating it to generate numerous publications or publishing very similar findings in multiple places.
Data management – do you know who owns your data and what you are permitted to do with it? While you may have collected or generated it, it is the property of the lab. You should take responsibility for creating understandable data records, whether physical or electronic, and store/save your data in a secure location to which your PI and lab members have access.
Training others – your PI and mentors have a responsibility to you, just as you will have a responsibility to any peer or student you may train.
