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ETHICS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND GOVERNANCE
Author
Edited by Kambadur Muralidhar, Amit Ghosh and Ashok Kumar Singhvi
Specifications
  • ISBN 13 : 9788193948217
  • year : 2019
  • language : English
  • binding :
Description
Over the years, the style and practice of science has seen a considerable transformation. The pursuit of Science has moved from an individual’s curiosity driven enquiry to an institutionalized system with a subject focus, centralized funding and cadre based career options. This change of structure, has led to competitions in both intellectual and personnel domains and these, in turn have led to an increase in unethical practices. To add to this, developments in biological and pharmaceutical sciences have also led to ethical dilemmas on the use of animals/humans as objects. New development like the artificial intelligence and, the machine learning and use of the internet add altogether new layers to the concerns on ethics. Increasing number of students and their need for quality education have also resulted in several compromises in the manner in which the admissions to the institutions are made, the manner in which the education is imparted and also the manner in which the examination and evaluations are conducted. At each stage unethical practices abound. In research arena, there are issues of plagiarism, predatory journals, manufacture of data without experiment, ghost or guest authorship to issues of use of money as a surrogate for quality, have all led to erosion of values and ethical standards. Similar issues have arisen in Science Governance and in fair treatment and equal opportunity in respect of gender biases. Ethics, in the manner in which scientific information is shared with the stake holders needs much discussion. All such unethical practices are rooted in the simple desire for short cuts to success and the innate aspiration of the less meritorious to rise higher in one’s profession. Truth, which is the goal of Science, stands totally compromised. The conditions of unethical practices in India are of diverse origins. On the one hand there are cases of willful adoption of unethical practices and on the other hand there are cases of sheer ignorance whereby, for example, many assume that copying from a web source as legitimate. Money and official status also play a major role in such matters.