Blog 2: Ethical Communication
Ethical communication is something we all deal with in our school and work lives, often
without realizing it. Whether it is abiding by copyright or plagiarism laws, complying with
accessibility standards, or just following the appropriate codes of conduct (Markel, Selber 37).
As an aspiring physicist, there are many situations in which to apply ethical communication and
therefore, also many situations in which I may be challenged with an ethical decision.
The first example of a possible challenge in the Physics department, as well as most
scientific departments, is in reporting research results. Much of science now is based around
performing experiments that lead to new discoveries or findings. As such, one may wish to
improve the reception of their report by changing data, removing specific data to make their
results look better, or even fabricating data to make their experiment seem a success. Doing these
things would be a prime example of unethical communication as you would be deceiving and
misleading your colleagues as well as the general public. Unfortunately, there have been
instances in which this has happened. For example, Dr. Piero Anversa, a man whose research
would seemingly revolutionize the medical industry, was found to have falsified and fabricated
data for over ten years (New York Times). The Harvard researcher enjoyed a long and successful
career before being exposed, and surprisingly, despite other research groups being unable to
recreate the results he supposedly found in his lab, nothing much was made of it until recently.
Thankfully, most of the scientific community are diligent in following the ethical codes of
conduct of their society and putting an end to this sort of unethical behavior.
Another way in which I many face challenges in ethical communication in my career is
the publication of studies or reports. Often, in a research study, many people take part and in the
resulting publication, it would be wrong to leave those out who contributed to the study or add
names to the study of those who did not contribute. Often, having your name published on a
successful research study can be good for one’s career, so it is easy to see how this desire could
be taken advantage of. As scientists, it is part of our duty to be honest with the public and
correctly acknowledging those who worked on something is part of this obligation.
Finally, the last, and perhaps most obvious way I may face a challenge in ethical
communication is through plagiarism. Unfortunately, this is also something that happens often in
different areas of life and in the scientific community, it is just as bad. Taking someone else’s
work and claiming it as your own, no matter how small, is still a form of dishonesty and one that
is looked down upon within the scientific community.
Works Cited
1. Markel, Mike; Selber A. Stuart. Technical Communication. 12th Edition. Bedford/St.
Martins. 2017
2. Kolata, Gina. He Promised to Restore Damaged Hearts. Harvard Says His Lab
Fabricated Research. NY Times. October 29, 2018. https://nyti.ms/2COLJkL