About the Site

This is a web-site of the UAB Center for Ethics and Values in the Sciences with funding from the US Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Research Integrity. This site explains what is appropriate in image processing in science and what is not. It also shows how best practices in handling images intersects with other best practices. The site is intended for students and faculty members to help use and encourage best practices for promoting research integrity in their research groups. The site is also intended for researchers and administrators at all levels to help to teach best practices for research integrity among students and colleagues alike.

Author

S.H. Vollmer is the Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Values in the Sciences. Sara Vollmer received a first Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska, then worked for a decade as a research chemist and biochemist, before earning a second Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Maryland with a focus on epistemology and the philosophy of science. Subsequently, Vollmer was awarded a research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. She currently serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Ethics and Values in the Sciences, where she teaches Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and ethical decision-making. As a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she examines issues related to the philosophy of Chemistry, modality in knowledge and perception, and images. Her 2003 video on research integrity, “In the Lab, Mentors and Students Behind the Scenes,” set the stage for her ongoing video work.

Contributing Author

Douglas Cromey, M.S. is an Assistant Scientific Investigator at the University of Arizona and is the manager of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center's Cellular Imaging Facility Core. An NIEHS Center of Excellence, SWEHSC provides microscopy and imaging expertise to faculty, staff, and students. Additionally, Cromey manages the AZ Research Labs - Biotechnology Confocal Microscopy facility and the department of Cell Biology & Anatomy's Histology Service Lab. Drawing on his greater than 25 year experience in electron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis and morphometry and his more recent experience with confocal microscopy and paraffin histology, Cromey has developed an extensive suite of www pages entitled "Microscopy and Imaging Resources" covering a broad range of topics. He has also written a number of tutorials and informational/instructional sheets for using specific instruments/software, many of which are available free of charge on the web, and has been an invited speaker on the topic of Digital Imaging Ethics at several national meetings and courses.

Case Study Video Director

Jana Harris is an award winning film producer, director and actress and the President and Founder of J.D. Harris Productions. She has produced and worked on over 20 films, television shows and documentaries including projects for ESPN and HBO. Harris formed The Educational Arts Corporation (EAC) in 2004, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exposing K-12 "at-risk" and underserved students to the arts. Since EAC's inception, participating students have produced five short movies, 17 PSAs, 22 documentaries and 47 theatrical productions. Harris is also the Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of The Kid's Interactive Drama Troupe, which exposes children to positive character plays and has performed for over 13,000 students since 2004.

Cartoon Artist

Edna Vollmer has been drawing for over 60 years. Her illustrations are published in the Oshkosh Naturist magazine "N" as well as various newsletters and scholarly journals. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Lupin Naturist Club in Los Gatos, and showcased at the Santa Cruz Institute of Contemporary Art. She was formerly staff artist at Lupin, where she taught regional figure drawing workshops. Vollmer enjoys figuring out how to translate the form and motion of the human body into simple line drawings, and especially savors the two minute pose when she catches a passing gesture with the stroke of an ordinary ball point pen - or sometimes a Faber Castell art pen. Scanning her sketches into the computer, she digitally adds color and creates lively patterns and unusual negative spaces.

Journal Editor Video Producer

Dave Gadbois of Soundzcreative is a music video producer interested in Philosophy and Bioethics. A Philosophy major, he studies issues in Bioethics and Research Ethics while pursuing a career in teaching.

Photoshop Video Producer

Matthew Scott Mears is a recent graduate of UAB, where he majored in Philosophy. Mears continues to pursue his interests in Philosophy and is considering a career in the legal profession.

Web Site Design and Development

Periyakaruppan Krishnamoorthy is a senior systems analyst at the University of Alabama Continuing Medical Education.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge with appreciation:

• Harold Kincaid, director of the Center for Ethics and Values in the Sciences, for continued support and funding.
• Dale Benos for agreeing to be interviewed.
• John Krueger for suggestions on the Journal Editor section and sending images.
• John Dahlberg and Ira Mellman for suggesting interview questions.
• Kay Fields and Jim Flynn for suggestions on the case study.
• Michael Rossner for allowing us to use images.
• Jeffrey Cohen for his talk on the interrelationship between the three components of Research Integrity - Education, Oversight, and Accountability.
• Regan Huff for help with the overall concept of the site, the concept of the "Continuum," and layout and language suggestions in the early stages of the project.
• Tina Harris for suggestions for language in the later stages of the project.
• Nancy Hall and David Vollmer for advice on the site throughout the process.
• Mark Holcombe for writing the Findings of Misconduct paper.
• Minnie Randle for administration of the funds.
• Pam Williams for contributing to the case study and quizzes.