Thomas Kalinoski's reading response to chapter 3 of Writing in the Sciences

Something that I found interesting was that there is formal ethics training in universities and Institutional Review boards. Its not really surprising to me but I thought that the subject of ethics in science would have been more informal. It was though, surprising to learn about all of the examples of ethical and moral issues that have come up in modern science, especially internationally. It is clear that there is a need for establishing ethical and regulatory codes to prevent misconduct. I could definitely see the pressure for some of these misconducts in science after thinking about my own lab experience. There is pressure to receive sufficient funds, students, staff, and publications to keep up with competing universities would be a lot to handle, especially when the economy is down. I remember hearing that it is difficult to find a job in chemistry right now, and that one chemical company just laid off many of its workers. I liked the discussion in section 3.3 on technology and its influence on publication. The call to replace the traditional peer review system to a "peer review by social consensus" had not been seen in a large field like chemistry or biology, where there is less familiarity among the scientists. I thought it was interesting that this system has been used since basically the scientific disciplines began in the 17th century. I think the social consensus method would make it easier to publish, but more difficult to control the integrity of research. Section 3.4 talked about the expansion of e-journals in science and the concerns over publishing. We use online journals a lot in chemistry, and I have honestly not seen a hard copy journal being used. Just the accessibility of and the fact that it is continuously updated makes online publishing very appealing. I don't think there is really a concern about the journals being to open to publishing and not having the same standards of publication as the print versions. I think that the internet allows journals to greatly expand their publication and access potential while still maintaining their prestige, and that as the book says many of the prestigious journals are embracing electronic media. The Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) website even has links to a facebook group and Twitter page, as well as podcasts and an iphone application. So I think that this has allowed a more interactive scientific environment that could be good or bad.