This book is an easy to read, yet comprehensive introduction to
practical issues in research ethics and scientific integrity. It
addresses questions about what constitutes appropriate academic and
scientific behaviors from the point of view of what Robert Merton called
the "ethos of science." In other words, without getting into tricky
questions about the nature of the good or right (as philosophers often
do), Koepsell's concise book provides an approach to behaving according
to the norms of science and academia without delving into the morass of
philosophical ethics.
The central thesis is that: since we know certain behaviors are
necessary for science and its institutions to work properly (rather than
pathologically), we can extend those principles to guide good behaviors
as scientists and academics.
The Spanish version of this book was commissioned by the Mexican
National Science Foundation (CONACyT) and is being distributed to and
used by Mexican scientists in a unique, national plan to improve
scientific integrity throughout all of Mexico. Available now in English,
the examples and strategies employed can be used throughout the English
speaking research world for discussing issues in research ethics,
training for scientists and researchers across disciplines, and those
who are generally interested in ethics in academia.