STP Professional Practice & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A trainee scientist discovers that their supervisor has been falsifying data. What is the most appropriate first action?
- Continue with their own work and ignore the situation
- Raise the concern through the institution's research misconduct procedures (Correct answer)
- Publish the evidence themselves immediately
- Confront the supervisor publicly at a departmental meeting
Correct answer: Raise the concern through the institution's research misconduct procedures
Suspected research misconduct should be raised through the institution's formal procedures, which protect whistleblowers and ensure proper investigation.
Question 2: What does the Caldicott Principles primarily govern in the NHS and healthcare research context?
- Safe disposal of clinical waste
- Protection and use of patient-identifiable information (Correct answer)
- Staff working hours and duty of care
- Financial management of NHS trusts
Correct answer: Protection and use of patient-identifiable information
The Caldicott Principles set out requirements for the appropriate handling, protection, and use of patient-identifiable information.
Question 3: A scientist publishes the same study in two different journals without disclosing prior publication. This is known as:
- Plagiarism
- Duplicate publication (Correct answer)
- Salami slicing
- Ghost authorship
Correct answer: Duplicate publication
Duplicate publication is submitting the same work to multiple journals without disclosure and is considered a form of research misconduct.
Question 4: Under GDPR, which legal basis is most commonly used for processing health data in clinical research in the UK?
- Legitimate interests of the data controller
- Explicit consent or public task with appropriate safeguards (Correct answer)
- Vital interests of the data subject only
- Compliance with a legal obligation
Correct answer: Explicit consent or public task with appropriate safeguards
Health research typically relies on explicit consent or the public task basis, combined with Article 9(2)(j) special category provisions and appropriate safeguards.
Question 5: When is it ethically acceptable to conduct research without obtaining informed consent from participants?
- Whenever it is inconvenient to obtain consent
- In limited circumstances such as emergency research where consent is impossible and an ethics committee has approved a waiver (Correct answer)
- When participants are likely to refuse
- If the researcher believes the study is low risk
Correct answer: In limited circumstances such as emergency research where consent is impossible and an ethics committee has approved a waiver
Consent waivers may be approved by ethics committees in narrow circumstances, such as emergency research where obtaining consent is impossible and safeguards are in place.
Question 6: The 'CPD cycle' in a healthcare scientist's professional development typically involves:
- Completing one training course per decade
- Reflecting on practice, planning learning, acting on the plan, and evaluating the impact (Correct answer)
- Reading one journal article per month
- Attending mandatory fire safety training annually
Correct answer: Reflecting on practice, planning learning, acting on the plan, and evaluating the impact
The CPD cycle is a continuous process of reflection, planning, action, and evaluation to maintain and develop professional competence.
Question 7: A scientist's research is funded by a pharmaceutical company. How should this be disclosed?
- Only if asked by a journal reviewer
- In all publications, presentations, and grant applications related to the funded work (Correct answer)
- Only in the final publication
- It does not need to be disclosed if the scientist believes it did not influence results
Correct answer: In all publications, presentations, and grant applications related to the funded work
Funding sources must be disclosed in all outputs related to the funded work to allow readers to assess potential bias.
STP Professional Practice & Ethics 3
A trainee scientist discovers that their supervisor has been falsifying data.
What is the most appropriate first action?