Reasonable Conduct in Science
This MIT OpenCourseWare course covers the responsible conduct of research in the brain and cognitive sciences, aimed at graduate students and young researchers entering the field. Topics include proper data handling and record-keeping, the ethical treatment of human and animal research subjects, scientific misconduct and how it is identified and handled, mentoring relationships, intellectual property rights, and the norms of authorship and publication. The course is structured around instruction paired with case-based dialog, using real ethical dilemmas researchers encounter in laboratory settings. Materials include a syllabus and readings drawn from MIT's brain and cognitive sciences curriculum. There is no instructor interaction or certificate, but all course materials are freely available for self-study under MIT OCW's open license.