The trouble with circRNAs- are researchers going around in circles?
In this very interesting post, Professor Jennifer Byrne (University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health, NSW Health Pathology) looks at the mistakes being made in circRNAs papers, even in high-profile, supposedly high-quality and distinguished publications.
She reflects on what might be the cause of those mistakes, why they are a big deal what could be the consequences.
Why is it that honest researchers make such a serious mistake?
Is a sign of lack of experience, insight and knowledge? Or is it an indication something far more dubious and questionable?
This very accessible post does a great job of explaining complex genetic concepts in lay terms.
This points to the need for research institutions and research publishers to have sufficient expertise in the topic, to truly understand circRNAs and reagents.
Why university research ethics committees are vital
In this post Daniel Sokol writes about a troubling research integrity/human research ethics case that relates to Poland, the UK and Australia.
Daniel SokolÂ
When I sat on the Ministry of Defence’s Research Ethics Committee, some research projects were potentially dangerous. The risks of testing a new piece of military diving equipment, for example, are obvious. If it malfunctions, the volunteer could drown or suffer brain damage. The risks of historical research can be more subtle but they are nonetheless real, as shown by a recent case involving the University of Warwick.
Dr Anna Hájková, an associate professor of modern continental European history, researches the queer history of the Holocaust. She claimed that a Jewish prisoner may have engaged in a lesbian sexual relationship with a Nazi guard in Hamburg in 1944.
After the war, the prisoner worked as an actress and emigrated from…
The ethical petri-dish: recommendations for the design of university science curricula
Dr Jo-Anne Kelder, Senior Lecturer, Curriculum Innovation and Development, University of Tasmania, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jokelder/ Professor Sue Jones, Honorary Researcher, School of
When Research is the treatment: why the research/clinical care divide doesn’t always work
Nik Zeps AHRECS Consultant Health services are often operated by people who strive to improve the way they deliver care.
It’s the hand you’re dealt: Copyright card games and publishing board games are in!
Nerida Quatermass | University Copyright Officer | Project Manager, Creative Commons Australia at Queensland University of Technology As a university
Fighting Fiction with Fiction: A novel approach to engaging the public in bioethics of medical research
Cathal O’Connell Centre Manager, BioFab3D, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. About the laboratory discussed in this post (Video credit: Benjamin Sheen)
Pondering on whether to submit your research output to a journal?
The significance of how we talk and think about the pachyderm elephant mammoth in the room. Dr Gary Allen AHRECS
Interest in ‘self-plagiarism’
Mark Israel Mark Israel’s article in Research Ethics Monthly on ‘Self-plagiarism?’ has been receiving a little interest outside Australia and New Zealand.
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Sprinting to the start line: concerns with expedited ethics review
Allow me to start with a short story. A recent conversation I had with
The value of respect in human research ethics: a conceptual analysis and a practical guide
Pieper, I J and Thomson CJH The value of respect in human research ethics:
Making Indigenous research ethics a compulsory facet of supervisor development and student training
There is an increasing trend in Australian universities to provide professional development for supervisors
A big bear trap on the horizon
Many Australian research bodies link to the National Statement. They do so through websites, policy documents, professional development material and other resources.
This is logical and makes it easier for researchers and others to access the national policy/guidance material.
Another reason to do this is that it makes it easier for researchers to see the external impetus for the institution’s arrangements and provides a source of further information and guidance.