Ethics in Relation to Scientific Communication
Scientific communication is the sharing of scientific information amid scientists and the members of a community through different media. Scientists have an ethical obligation towards good communication between them and the general public. Normally many people view ethics as rules that are used to distinguish between right and wrong. However, ethics can be defined as the standards for conduct that differentiate tolerable and intolerable conduct. Professional scientific papers are not usually available to the general public and scientists are obliged to engage the community through other mediums such as public discussions, articles on the internet and other press and interviews with media representatives.
Scientists require ethics training to be able to grow proficiency that enables them to productively engage in ethical consideration about their communication with the members of the general public. However, scientists normally receive minimal or no official training in relation to the various ethical norms necessitating and governing communication with the community. Mostly the training they undergo tends to emphasize more on the relations amid scientists and professionals in the science field. Idealistic queries about the ethical responsibility in relation to successful and suitable communication between scientists and the members of the community have not been tackled in organized detail in educational deliberations.
Scientists are obliged to follow a set of guidelines that help them differentiate between right and wrong. Self monitoring is important in scientific communication as it helps in ensuring that there is ethical transfer of scientific information between the scientists and the general public. Scientific information meant for the non-scientific audience should be simplified, framed and popularized carefully to avoid delivering diluted and false information to the public as this can cause a lot of harm to the people. Exaggeration of information shared with the non-scientific public can also lead to unnecessary panic in a community. Scientists should make careful ethical considerations of the consequences before sharing the information with the public.
There are certain ethical principles that govern the distribution of scientific information that is not certain or is controversial to the general public. Sharing of such information should be done with a lot of care to prevent negative outcomes. Scientist should give clear warning to the public regarding such information. Scientists aught to be honest while communicating scientific information to the community to maintain ethical standards. Scientific communication ethics stipulate that scientists should utilize autonomous investigations and explanation of outcome based data to avoid external influence. They should share methods overtly through presentations and publications. Ideas, data and information acquired from other scientists or sources should be properly credited. Plagiarism and use of other people’s sources without giving credit is totally unethical. Scientists have an overall moral obligation to the society as well as in specific subjects concerning humans and animals and their rights.
Peer review is the most significant challenge in the scientific community. It is a continued exceptional regulation in publication of scientific papers that gives fellow scientists a chance to review a scientific paper before it is published. Although peer review is said to be biased, it is one method used to authenticate scientific information shared with the non-scientific community. It avoids exaggerating of information and conclusions and it is also easy to understand. If the information has no technical problems it is approved for publication and sharing with the general public.
Scientists are obligated to use standard research methods to carry out research on specific subjects that affect the society. This is to ensure that the community has accurate information. This reduces the dangers associated with incorrect information. For instance a scientist researching on how the HIV virus is spread ought to be very careful as this will affect people’s behaviors in response to the available information.
There are many scientific societies in existence and they serve many purposes. One of the objectives is to generate regulations and guidelines for ethical behaviors in the different scientific fields they represent. There are specific ethical guidelines that govern the use of animals and humans for scientific research. Scientists should not course any harm to human beings and the level of harm caused to animals is also controlled.
Scientific communication also helps the general public understand the ethics that govern the scientific world. From this, the general public is able to identify scientists who break the ethical codes as well as the consequences they face for their actions. This builds confidence in scientists and their research works. Communication also helps the general public understand the limits to which scientist can go to get results that benefit the community and what the law stipulates.
For scientific research to benefit the general public there has to be sincere pursuit and straightforward representation of the conclusions. This has to be carried out though proper scientific communication processes. Different scientists interpret data differently and errors may occur during these interpretations. Unethical behaviors such as fabrication, misrepresentation and plagiarism of data may jeopardize an entire scientific effort leading to improper scientific communication. Ethics call for scientist to maintain the utmost height of veracity in all scientific communication activities. The government also controls the information shared with the public through proper evaluation and assessment of claims in state owned research facilities.
In conclusion, scientific communication is the sharing of scientific information between scientists and the general public. This information sharing calls for ethical procedures as inaccurate information shared with the general public could expose the general public a lot of danger. Proper research methods reduce the incidences of inaccurate methods shared with the public. Ethics guide scientists in ethical decision making when sharing information with the general public.
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