Ethics in astronomy
Markus Wi kowski Ethics
• First systema cally defined by Aristotle as a separate philosophical field. Part of prac cal philosophy, including ethics, economy, poli cs. • The subject of ethics is moral human ac ng and reasoning, i.e. what makes ac ng a morally good ac ng? • The procedure is systema c, results should be jus fied and intersubjec ve • Not moralizing, not influenced by ideologies Categories: descrip ve / norma ve
• Descrip ve: which ac ng is common in a group or a society, which ac ng is generally accepted as moral ac ng? Who is widely accepted as a moral exemplar, how does this person act? • Norma ve: Prescrip ve. Se ng up of rules. How shall ac ng be? Higher risk to be subjec ve, influenced by a certain ideology. Criteria need to be jus fiable, verifiable, need possibility to ques on them • It is not self-evident that there is any generally accepted norm. Goodwill is required. Categories: descrip ve / norma ve
• Descrip ve: which ac ng is common in a group or a society, which ac ng is generally accepted as moral ac ng? Who is widely accepted as a moral exemplar, how does this person act? • Norma ve: Prescrip ve. Se ng up of rules. How shall ac ng be? Higher risk to be subjec ve, influenced by a certain ideology. Criteria need to be jus fiable, verifiable, need possibility to ques on them • It is not self-evident that there is any generally accepted norm. Goodwill is required. Professional ethics
• Different professions have certain cultures, code of conduct, best prac ces • Responsibility for the society • Reputa on of the profession • Certain values within the profession • In par cular, research ethics reflects the moral grounds on which researchers do research, and their internal and external responsibility Astronomy • The oldest natural science • Very important for socie es throughout human evolu on by providing informa on on me, calendars, seasons, our place in the universe, etc.; Nowadays climate change (greenhouse effect), asteroid impact avoidance, exo-planets/exo-life • For a long me there was a close connec on between astronomy, religion, art, magic (e.g. Stonehenge) • Modern astronomy is decoupled from such fields. Also people nowadays are more disconnected from the sky due to light pollu on, spending most me in big ci es and buildings, and modern jobs are disconnected from nature. • There is s ll a big public interest in astronomy. • Object of interest is observed, not created/manipulated Astronomers/Working areas
• Universi es, research centers, observatories • Work part of their me on research • Have other du es, e.g. teaching, instrument building, opera ons & support • Serve as referees for papers, on me alloca on commi ees, grant panels, selec on commi ees, mentors, write recommenda on le ers, some have managerial du es as employers, etc
Which are, in your opinion, the most important 2-3 values for the professional work of an astronomer? Results (card technique), in approximate order of men onings • Honesty/ Objec vity/ Integrity • Create new ideas for the community/ Provide knowledge to the public • Open-minded/ Crea vity • Collabora on • Cri cal thinking • Neutrality/Fairness • Respect • Acknowledge help & sources • Reliability • Persistence • Empathy in outreach & teaching Small Poll from 2009 • Honesty. Respect the truth and publish full results. Transparency. Communicate to the public/be honest with the public. • Respect intellectual property. Respect ideas/ follow scien fic method. • Flexibility/the ability to change one’s ideas. Imagina on. Openness. Knowledge. • Apprecia ng others. Ability to work with others. Trying to treat colleagues and their work as oneself would want to be treated. Keep good tempered when very red. Help the young where you can. European Commission/ Ethics for researchers (FP 7) • Legal basis: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Ar cle 13: “The arts and scien fic research shall be free of constraint. Academic freedom shall be respected” • We have to act responsibly with this freedom, both internally and externally. In par cular, we need to respect: – Art. 3: Right to the integrity of the person. – Art. 7: Respect for private and family life – Art. 8: Protec on of personal data – Work environment/ internal rules EC: Ethics for Researchers (FP 7) • Data Protec on and Privacy (health informa on, gene c informa on, criminal records, financial informa on, travel records, informa on on religious beliefs and sexual orienta on or ethnic iden fica on records) • Informed consent (adequate informa on, voluntariness, competence) • Research on human embryo’s and foetuses • Dual use (research that could be misused for criminal or terrorist purposes) • Animal research • Research involving developing countries (beneficial to all stakeholders, comply with relevant European legisla on, na onal legisla on and with the relevant accepted interna onal standards; if local resources are used, this should be adequately compensated, poten ally vulnerable popula ons need to be able to provide genuine informed consent, relevant local and independent ethic approvals need to be provided) EC: Charter for researchers • Research freedom; limita ons to this freedom • Ethical principles (recognized ethical prac ces) • Professional responsibility (relevant to society and does not duplicate research) • Professional a tude (research environment, funding mechanisms, approvals) • Contractual and legal obliga ons • Accountability (toward employer, funders, society) • Good prac ce in research (safe, legisla on) • Dissemina on, exploita on of results (research is frui ul, results exploited commercially, or made accessible to the public) • Public engagement (can be understood by non-specialists) • Rela on with supervisors • Supervision and managerial du es (supervisors, mentors, career advisors, leaders, project coordinators, managers, science communicstors) • Con nuing professional development EC: Requirements for Employers • Recogni on of the profession • Non-discrimina on • Research environment • Working condi ons • Stability and permanence of employment • Funding and salaries • Gender balance • Career development • Value of mobility • Access to research training and con nuous development • Access to career advice • Intellectual property rights • Co-authorship • Supervision • Teaching • Evalua on/appraisal systems • Complaints/appeals • Par cipa on in decision-making bodies • Recruitment EC: Recruitment of researchers
• Selec on • Transparency • Judging merit • Varia ons in the chronological order of CVs • Recogni on of mobility experience • Recogni on of qualifica ons • Seniority • Postdoctoral appointments
Which are, in your opinion, ethical issues that typically occur in the professional life of an astronomer? Results (brainstorming) • Selec on of data • Intrinsic biases in panels/ peer-review processes • Hierarchical problems • Not acknowledging work of others • Stealing of ideas • Referee process • Conflicts of interest • Publishing of results that are known to be wrong • Not publishing nega ve results • Copying mainstream ideas without cri cal thinking • Plagiarism • Not giving back to society • Conferences in exo c/remote loca ons • Authorlists • Abuse of power • Lack of cultural or environmental apprecia on Small poll from 2009
• Providing and being given proper credit, especially to students. • Data manipula on (inten onally or uninten onally) • Manipula on of cita ons • Abusing a referee process/use of confiden al informa on • Abusing hierarchical or mentoring structure • Building observatories at culturally or ecologically sensi ve places, or in poor countries • Following expensive projects that are risky and might not give results • Not improving the quality of people’s lifes in the short & medium term • Balancing work & home life • Fair shared of publica ons/autorlist and fair access to data • Compe on within the team for the best data or the best students • Marginalizing researchers that are le out of big collabora ons Ethical standards in astronomy by Paul Kalas (Decadal Survey), 2009 • Authorship and publica ons (plagiarism, falsifica on, and fabrica on; publica ons are a key metric for scien fic success) • Data and the research record (failure to retain research data, refusing reasonable access to research data, misrepresen ng specula ons as fact or releasing preliminary research results without sufficient data to allow cri cal review, selec ng and repor ng data to improve the appearance of data or to increase its significance, suppressing nega ve data) • Environmental ethics Professional and ethical standards for the AAS journals • Ethics • Plagiarism and republica on • A ribu on and cita on prac ce • Conflicts of interest • Confiden ality guidelines • Professional conduct and civility • Inves ga on of misconduct allega ons The A&A policy concerning plagiarism and improper a ribu on • Plagiarism: reproducing text or other content from work wri en by others without giving proper credit to the source of that content (also paraphrasing text) • Self-plagiarism (when authors cite text from their own previously published works) • Must cite the original reference and include text in quota on marks. Figures may only be reproduced with permission and must be cited in the figure cap on. A brief discussion of previous results is usually more relevant than direct quota on • Should cite previously published papers that are directly relevant • Improper a ribu on: Deliberate refusal to cite prior, corrobora ng, or contradictory results Summary/ Discussion
• Based on today’s ques ons & answers, we do agree on common values in astronomy and on common moral problems in our field • We are tempted to unethical behavior in our everyday life, especially in gray areas, and need to be aware of it • It helps to discuss with others when we encounter situa ons that we feel are morally problema c References
• Das Europäische Parlament 2000: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Europeanm Union, Official Journal of the European Communi es (2000/C 364/01) • European Commission 2005: EUR 21620 – The European Charter for Researchers. The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publica ons of the European Communi es 2005, ISBN 92-894-9311-9 • European Commission 2013: Ethics for Researchers – Facilita ng Reasearch Excellence in FP7, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publica ons of the European Communi es 2013, ISBN 978-92-79-28854-8 • Kalas, Paul 2009, University of California, BerkeleyEthical standards for astronomy, Decadal Survey • Professional and ethical standards for the AAS journals, ApJS, 167, 101-102 (2006) • A&A, Ethical issues: www.aanda.org • Pieper, A. 2007: Einführung in die Ethik, A. Fracke Verlag Tübingen und Basel (6. Auflage, 2007), ISBN 978-3-8252-1637-5 Further reading
• Nature’s guide for mentors (2007), Nature 447, 14 • Bullock, M. A. 2005: Astronomy and Ethics, h p://www.boulder.swri.edu/~bullock/ astro_ethics.pdf • Paul Kalas, Astronomy Ethics Course, University of Berkeley, h p://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~kalas/ethics/index.html • Leslie J. Sage 2012, In Organiza ons, People and Strategies in Astronomy I (OPSA I), (Ed. A. Heck), 279-283 (also other ar cles from this volume) • Petersen, A. M. et al. 2014 “A quan ta ve perspec ve on ethics in large team science”, arXiv:1404.0191