The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility
Questionable research practices (QRPs) and research misconduct (RM) involving university scientists waste resources and erode public trust in science and academia. Theories put forth for the occurrence of these transgressions have ranged conceptually from that of errant individuals (“bad apple”) to...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Philosophies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/9/6/174 |
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| author | Bor Luen Tang |
| author_facet | Bor Luen Tang |
| author_sort | Bor Luen Tang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Questionable research practices (QRPs) and research misconduct (RM) involving university scientists waste resources and erode public trust in science and academia. Theories put forth for the occurrence of these transgressions have ranged conceptually from that of errant individuals (“bad apple”) to an environment/culture which is conducive for, if not promotive of, QRP/RM (“bad barrel”), or a combination of both. These ideas appear to provide explanations for lapses in epistemic responsibility and offer reasons for instances of transgression. Some have even argued that scientific conclusions need not be accurate, justified, or believed by their authors. I take the opposite view and instead argue that academic research should be carried out such that a scientist’s fundamental commitment to their epistemic responsibility triumphs over all reasons and incentives to err. In other words, carrying out and publishing research in which the results are authentic and veracious to the best of the scientist’s knowledge and ability should be a default state of mind, a preferred path of action, or a moral axiom. This is a notion that should permeate any courses on research ethics and integrity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b13f8e1eade7449ca15ac348f1446331 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2409-9287 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Philosophies |
| spelling | doaj-art-b13f8e1eade7449ca15ac348f14463312025-08-20T02:01:09ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872024-11-019617410.3390/philosophies9060174The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic ResponsibilityBor Luen Tang0Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117596, SingaporeQuestionable research practices (QRPs) and research misconduct (RM) involving university scientists waste resources and erode public trust in science and academia. Theories put forth for the occurrence of these transgressions have ranged conceptually from that of errant individuals (“bad apple”) to an environment/culture which is conducive for, if not promotive of, QRP/RM (“bad barrel”), or a combination of both. These ideas appear to provide explanations for lapses in epistemic responsibility and offer reasons for instances of transgression. Some have even argued that scientific conclusions need not be accurate, justified, or believed by their authors. I take the opposite view and instead argue that academic research should be carried out such that a scientist’s fundamental commitment to their epistemic responsibility triumphs over all reasons and incentives to err. In other words, carrying out and publishing research in which the results are authentic and veracious to the best of the scientist’s knowledge and ability should be a default state of mind, a preferred path of action, or a moral axiom. This is a notion that should permeate any courses on research ethics and integrity.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/9/6/174epistemic responsibilityresearch misconductresearch ethics |
| spellingShingle | Bor Luen Tang The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility Philosophies epistemic responsibility research misconduct research ethics |
| title | The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility |
| title_full | The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility |
| title_fullStr | The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility |
| title_short | The Academic Scientist’s Commitment to Epistemic Responsibility |
| title_sort | academic scientist s commitment to epistemic responsibility |
| topic | epistemic responsibility research misconduct research ethics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/9/6/174 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT borluentang theacademicscientistscommitmenttoepistemicresponsibility AT borluentang academicscientistscommitmenttoepistemicresponsibility |