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Chapter 13 • PORE Master Curriculum

Research Ethics, Academic Integrity & COPE Standards

Ethical Conduct in Science, Arts & Humanities, Informed Consent & Plagiarism

Research Ethics Informed Consent COPE Standards Academic Integrity Plagiarism
Executive Overview & Learning Objectives

Comprehensive framework for ethical research: human subjects protection, informed consent, institutional review boards (IRB), preventing plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and data ethics.

1. Foundational Concepts & Core Principles

1

Ethical foundations of humanistic and scientific research

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

2

Informed consent, confidentiality, and protection of vulnerable subjects

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

3

Research misconduct definitions: Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism (FFP)

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

4

Authorship ethics: Contributorship criteria, gift/ghost authorship, conflict of interest

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

5

COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines for peer review and editorial integrity

Rigorous academic inquiry requires precise delimitation of this principle to ensure internal consistency, falsifiability, and methodological replicability.

2. Methodological Comparison & Trade-offs

Informed Consent

Voluntary agreement by participant based on full disclosure of risks and purpose.

Data Integrity

Maintaining authentic, unmanipulated records of all observations and experiments.

COPE Compliance

Adhering to international publishing standards for transparency and accountability.

3. Practical Guidelines & Common Methodological Pitfalls

Best Practices (Do This)
  • Explicitly state operational definitions before measurement.
  • Acknowledge potential confounders and data limitations in the methodology section.
  • Pre-register hypothesis and statistical tests when conducting quantitative trials.
  • Provide full provenance for historical, epigraphical, and archival texts.
Critical Pitfalls (Avoid This)
  • Confusing statistical correlation with causal determination.
  • Using non-probability convenience samples to claim population generalizations.
  • Failing to report negative results or unexpected anomalies.
  • Relying on unverified secondary citations without reading the primary source.
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