Citation is an essential practice in scientific publishing. However, it is mandatory that citing the sources in a scientific work is performed in a proper manner. Manipulating citations in research articles is one form of academic research misconduct that violates publication ethics. Citation manipulation simply occurs for the purpose of…

In this commentary, author Erica McWilliam asserts that the 2016 victory of Donald Trump in the US election is a global punch to all teachers who value pluralism and human dignity. She further maintains Trump's wild card entry into the White House directly threatens the values that teachers attempt to impart to their students--such as democracy,…

In much theory there is a tendency to place thought above action, or the opposite, action over thought. The consequence of the first option is that philosophy or scientific evidence gains the upper hand in educational thinking. The consequence of the second view is that pragmatism and relativism become the dominant features. This article discusses…

There is nothing new about a federal focus on investing in science in US higher education (often through contracts and grants), but there is a new intimacy between grants and science. Increasingly, what happens and is valued in the name of research and knowledge production in universities is "grant-science". In this article, I provide…

Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research has sparked incredible scientific and public excitement, as well as significant controversy. hESCs are pluripotent, which means, in theory, that they can be differentiated into any type of cell found in the human body. Thus, they evoke great enthusiasm about potential clinical applications. They are…

These are interesting days in the scientific, social, and political debates about human embryonic stem cell research. Pluripotent stem cells--cells that can, in principle, give rise to the body's full range of cell types--were previously derivable only from human embryos that were destroyed in the process. Now, a variety of somatic cell types can…

Owen-Smith et al. (this issue) answer the question about expanding funding for human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) research decisively and emphatically. They conclude that the U.S. federal government should expand funding in volume and scope, and stabilize it through regularity. According to Hurlbut and Robert, If the clear goal of policy should…

Fundamental differences between current and past knowledge in the field of biotechnology mean that we now have at our disposal the means to irreversibly change what is meant by "human nature". This paper explores some of the ethical issues that accompany the (as yet tentative) attempt to increase scientific control over the human genetic code in…

In the past few decades, with the explosion of biotechnology and the aging of the population, the use of human subjects in research has increased significantly. The United States has done much to protect human research subjects, and no one can deny the importance of keeping them safe. But at the same time, researchers whose work poses no threat to…

In this interview Roald Hoffmann reveals aspects of his private life, from the great difficulties he experienced during World War II, to his personal beliefs. Hoffmann addresses questions about the meaning of laboratory work, teaching chemistry, representing chemical ideas, his philosophical quandaries, his poetry, and his view of atomic orbitals.…

Western medicine has a long history of accounting for behaviour by reducing the body to ultimate explanatory entities. In pre-modern medicine these were invisible "animal spirits" circulating the body. In modern medicine, they are "genes". Both raise questions. The psychological phenotype is defined by human consensus, varying according to time…

Is science in the truth business, discovering ever more about an independent and largely unobservable world? Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, two of the most important figures in science studies in the 20th century, gave accounts of science that are in some tension with the truth view. Their central claims about science are considered here, along with…

Explores scientific fraud, asserting that while few scientists actually falsify results, the field has become so competitive that many are misbehaving in other ways; an example would be unreasonable criticism by anonymous peer reviewers. (EV)

Johnston argues that the impact of science and technology on the Australian Deaf community threatens the viability of the community; this entails that the scientists have a moral duty to record and preserve Auslan for posterity. This response analyzes Johnston's moral imperative through the application of intrinsic and extrinsic values, suggesting…

The role of the research administrator in assuring that ethical judgments are made is discussed. Included are some of the ethical questions faced in providing advice and judgment on policies, procedures, and issues that conflict with each other and that may represent very different value systems. (JMF)