Code of Ethics in Research and Publications

Introduction

This Code of Ethics in Research sets forth general principles of ethical conduct to guide scholars toward the highest ideals of scientific research. Research is the foundation of knowledge that brings new energy, builds state of the art facilities, promotes research publications, develops collaborations and becomes part of active community that shares the mission objectives. The principles represent aspirational goals and delineate enforceable standards that should direct researchers to an ethical course of action.

1. Preamble 

We, the faculty and research staff of M R Ambedkar Dental College and Hospital, hold that our profession as researchers entails an unqualified commitment to the pursuit of truth, an abiding dedication to the promotion of the public good, and a sustained interest in mentoring students and fellow researchers.  Alongside our efforts to maintain the ideals of scholarly integrity and academic freedom, we accept our duty to uphold human dignity and life in all its manifestations promote the interests of the greater community which this University seeks to serve and develop. Cognizant of our responsibility to our public, we hereby bind ourselves to the strictest measure of integrity and the highest ethical standards to be worthy of the public trust.

2. Principles and Ethics in Research

Research protocols of all the students and faculty undergoes extensive review by Ethics committee and review board before approval for the studies. All the proposed and presented research protocols should follow scientific principles and should be based on adequately performed laboratory and animal experimentation and on a thorough knowledge of the scientific literature.

a. The design of each experimental procedure involving human subjects is clearly formulated in an experimental protocol and reviewed by research committee.

b. Every research project involving human participants is preceded by careful assessment of predictable risks in comparison with foreseeable benefits to the subject or others. The right of the research participant to safeguard his or her integrity is always respected.

c. Every precaution should is taken to respect the privacy of the participant and to minimize the impact of the study on the his/her physical and mental integrity and on his or her personality.

d. The accuracy of research results is preserved.

e. In any research on human beings, each potential research participant is adequately informed of the aim, methods, anticipated benefits and potential hazards of the study
and the discomfort it may entail.

f. Informed consent is obtained from all human participants of our experiments or studies. That is, participants are free to decide on their involvement only after we have provided them with information that is relevant to that decision.

g. Maintain the autonomy of participants, especially students and subordinates, by refraining from offering inducements that may serve to coerce them into participating.

h. Safeguard the rights and welfare of persons and communities whose status and vulnerabilities may impair autonomous decision-making.

3. Research Practice:

a. Transparency, Openness and responsibility in the conduct and presentation of research is maintained by keeping detailed and complete records of our research undertaking.

b. Transparency in the use and disbursement of resources for our research and also declaring promptly any conflict of interest in our engagement in research and presentation of research results.
c. Respect the confidentiality of sources by not using or releasing data and information revealed to us in confidence.

d. Ensure the accuracy of all data that we and our collaborators have gathered and/or used in our research. Ensure that only the correct data, information, and research results shall be reported in journals, conferences, and reports to clients in case of commissioned research

e. Take reasonable steps to rectify significant errors that we or others have found in our published data, via the issuance of erratum, retraction, or correction of the data.

f. Avoid misleading statements or declarations and vague assertions that could be subject to misinterpretation.  If such misinterpretation is brought to our attention, it is our obligation to immediately issue a clarification or rectification. Avoid making
exaggerated claims that are not warranted by the results of our research inquiry.

4. Collaborations and Contributions:

Render unto our peers, colleagues, students, and research participants the respect that they deserve.

a. To provide assistance to other researchers, especially if we are uniquely qualified to do so by our expertise.

b. Respect the confidentiality and proprietary rights of our peers, colleagues, and students whose material we review for publication, presentation, or funding by a grant.

c. Take diligent care of equipment, material resources, and results.

d. Grant authorship in accordance with the significance of collaborators’ contribution in the research.

e. Appropriately attribute and credit to others their accomplishments and research results which we may have utilized in our own research

f. Acknowledge the material contribution of others in our research undertaking.

5. Authorship, Publications and conflict of interest:

a. Researcher should publish the results and interpretations of his or her research in an honest, transparent and accurate manner, so that other researchers could elaborate on the findings or replicate them.

b. Authorship must be based solely on substantial intellectual contribution to the research. This includes: significant contribution in initiating scientific idea, formulating conceptions, designing research, significant share in data acquisition, in the analysis and interpretations of data and in drafting the article or revising it critically for intellectual content.

c. Acquisition of funding, provision of technical assistance or materials, the collection of data, general supervision of the research group, by themselves, do not justify authorship. All authors are fully responsible for the content of the publication, unless it is specified they are responsible only for a specific part of the study within their specialty. When listing authors and their affiliations, it is appropriate to mention what was the nature of their contribution to the research.

d. Sequence of authors should be consistent with the existing customs in a given scientific discipline and agreed by all, ideally at the start of the project.

e. Intellectual contributions of others that have influenced the reported research should be appropriately acknowledged.

f. Grant and limit authorship to those who made a significant contribution to the research endeavor

g. Financial or other types of support for research should be properly mentioned and acknowledged.

h. Publication of the same (or substantial parts of the same) work in different journals is acceptable only with the consent of the editors of the journals and where proper reference is made to the first publication.

i. Eliminating conflict of interest by avoiding non-professional relationships between the evaluator and the evaluated, be that individual or institution or by avoiding a connection between a member of the fund granting authority and a person or research unit to which these funds are granted.

6. Plagiarism:

a. Not to plagiarize; that is, to present portions of another’s report or data as our own, even if the other work or data source is cited occasionally.

b. Clearly citing all sources of information and data that we use which are not the results of our own research.

c. Give proper acknowledgment and credit to resource/funding sources of our research..

7. Assessment and Review

Reviewers involved in the assessment and review process with regard to research projects, publications, scientific achievements, applications for faculty positions in scientific institutions and other forms of recognition, should withdraw from involvement in the review process, if there is any conflict of interests between them and evaluated individuals. The process of peer review should provide accurate, objective, substantiated and justifiable assessments. Reviewers should maintain confidentiality until the manuscript is published.

Reviewers and editors shall not make any use of the data or ideas presented in submitted
manuscripts without the author’s permission.

8. Training new researchers:

The institution faculty are authorized to conduct certain types of studies are entrusted special care of undergraduate and postgraduate students. These staff to supervise research of students and guarantee reliable supervision by exercising control over the number of students per supervisor. The supervisor to perform his or her duties reliably, in particular to his or her best to ensure that research conducted under his or her supervision meets all the requirements of scientific work and that dissertation is free from unacknowledged borrowings from other authors. The supervisor should ensure that his or her research student is familiar with ethical values in conducting research, and above all, should be a role model for his or her student.

References:

1. Ethical principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki (Adopted by the 18 th WorldMedical Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, June 1964, and amended by the 29 th World Medical Assembly, Tokyo, Japan, October 1975; 35 th World Medical Assembly, Venice, Italy, October 1983; 41 st World Medical Assembly, Hong
Kong, September 1989; 48 th World Medical Assembly, Somerset West, Republic of South Africa, October 1996; and the 52 nd World Medical Assembly, Edinburgh, Scotland, October 2000; Note of Clarification on Paragraph 29 added by the World Medical Assembly, Washington 2002; Note of Clarification on Paragraph 30
added by the World Medical Assembly, Tokyo 2004, 59 th WMA general Assembly, Seoul, October 2008)

2.  International Ethical Guidelines for e.g. The Nuremburg Code (1945), the Council of International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), the Belmont Report 1979, the International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects (Geneva 2002), and the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine 1977

3. The IEC establishes its own Standard Operating Procedures based on the ICMR guidelines (2006), Schedule Y (Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, amendment 20th Jan 2005), Operational Guidelines for Ethics Committees that Review Biomedical Research (WHO 2000), and ICH GCP, 1996 and the local regulations, CFR 45 (US FDA).

4. Good Manners in Science. A Set of Principles and Guidelines drawn up by the Committee for Ethics in Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2001)