Vignette #1
Dr Princeand Dr Smith are scientists involved in basic medical research. On several occasions they have worked collaboratively and have published a few scientific articlestogether.
Dr Smith once presented Dr Prince an idea about a research that could answer some important questions regarding a hormone. It was an original and simple idea. Dr Prince liked the idea very much, and he told Dr Smith that he would like to participate in the research. Dr Smith replied that he will contact Dr Prince as soon as he decides to start with this research, since at the moment he was preoccupied with another project dealing with a rare immunological disorder.
After that, the two colleagues did not see or hear of each other for a longer period of time, since Dr Smith devoted himself fully to the research of the rare immunological disorder, and often sojourned in countries in which such cases occurred.
During the following two years, Dr Prince tried several times to contact Dr Smith regarding the research they have talked about, but did not succeed. Finally, he decided that the idea is too good and important to wait, so he gathered a team and conducted a research based on the idea of Dr Smith. The results turned out to be really significant and the ensuing article was published in a high impact scientific journal. Soon afterwards, Dr Smith called Dr Prince and complained over the fact that he was not listed among the authors of the article. Dr Prince replied that he put the name of Dr Smith in the acknowledgment, among others who helped in the research.
1. Do you think that in this situation it is correct to leave out the person (Dr Smith) from the list of authors?
YESNO
1.1. Please, explain briefly why you think so?
2. Do you think that one would, in fact, be obliged to decide that way?
YESNO
3. If there was a rule which pointed to different direction from your decision, would you be willing to change your position?
YESNO
4. Do you think that this decision would be right in other similar situations and other scientific fields?
YESNO
VIgnete #2
Dr Horvat and Dr Novak are internal medicine specialists in a large clinical center. While discussing a series of unusual, but similar cases, they concluded that it could be an occurrence of a new, previously undescribed disease. They were dealing with a serious disorder of gastrointestinal system which required operative treatment. Therefore they asked Dr Marcus, an abdominal surgeon, to help them devise a study that would ascertain whether this is a new disease. He agreed, so they arranged that he will operate all the patients included in the study.
During the following year, Dr Marcus operated all the patients (a total of 12 persons) which Dr Horvat and Dr Novak included in the research. He also took histopathology samples and sent them for analysis. Data collected during the surgeries and histopathology analysis showed that it was indeed a new and previously undescribed disease.
In the next few months, Dr Horvat and Dr Novak used the collected data and descriptions of patients to write an article about the new disease, which they named HNCS (abbreviated from the Horvat-Novak Colon Syndrome). They sent the article in a prominent international journal, in which it was published.
After the article was published, they sent a reprint to Dr Marcus, who was surprised to see that only Dr Horvat and Dr Novak were listed as authors, while his name was in the acknowledgment, among others who helped in the research. He asked Dr Horvat why he was not on the byline, and got the answer that Dr Horvat and Dr Novak think he can not be considered an author because he did not participate in writing the manuscript.
1. Do you think that in this situation it is correct to leave out the person (Dr Marcus) from the list of authors?
YESNO
1.1. Please, explain briefly why you think so?
2. Do you think that one would, in fact, be obliged to decide that way?
YESNO
3. If there was a rule which pointed to different direction from your decision, would you be willing to change your position??
YESNO
4. Do you think that this decision would be right in other similar situations and other scientific fields?
YESNO
Vignette #3
Prof. Barr is a head of department at the Institute for Medical Research. During his long and rich career, he worked mainly as a microbiologist and earned a considerable reputation in the field. At the moment, he spends most of his time doing organizational and administrative work related to the activities of the Institute. He has also been appointed to the position of the Counselor of the Minister of Health and invests a lot of time in fulfilling this duty. However, he still leads a team of young scientists whom he have carefully chosen and supported in their education during the years. Generally, Prof Barr is known as a wonderful mentor who gives a lot of support and help to his research fellows.
Two of his young assistants, Dr Blaze and Dr Vale, presented him a research idea they have developed. The study required a considerable amount of money and use of expensive equipment available only in a few laboratories in the world. Prof Barr judged that the research is valuable and used his international contacts to enable Dr Blazeand Dr Vale to conduct the crucial part of their research in the laboratories of a USA university, which had the necessary equipment. He also helped them obtain financial resources needed for the research.
When the experiments were done, some results were confusing and seemed like a mistake. Dr Blaze and Dr Vale discussed that with Prof Barr, who promised to think about the problem. A few days later he summoned them and suggested another experiment that could clarify the confusing results. Dr Blaze and Dr Vale went back to USA and conducted the additional experiment, which confirmed that Prof Barr was right. Moreover, the results were now even more significant than they seemed in the beginning.
Dr Blaze and Dr Vale finished the study and wrote the article, but were not sure in which journal they should submit it. Prof Barr told them that he mentioned their research in a conversation with his acquaintance, the editor of a famous international journal, who expressed interest in publishing the work. Prof Barr proposed his young collaborators that he would be the corresponding author and take care of submitting the article and corresponding with the journal. However, Dr Blaze and Dr Vale were not sure whether Prof Barr could be considered an author of the article, although he was their superior and helped them in conducting the research.
1. Do you think that in this situation it is correct to list the person (Prof Barr) as an author of the study?
YESNO
1.1. Please, explain briefly why you think so?
2. Do you think that one would, in fact, be obliged to decide that way?
YESNO
3. If there was a rule which pointed to different direction from your decision, would you be willing to change your position??
YESNO
4. Do you think that this decision would be right in other similar situations and other scientific fields?
YESNO
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