# »no guidance in ethical research«

Eastwood et al. (1996) found that nearly 40% of postdoctoral research fellows responding to a survey at the University of California, San Francisco, reported having had no guidance in ethical research from a scientific mentor. Brown and Kalichman (1998) found that 50% of graduate students responding to a survey at the University of California, San Diego, reported that the total time spent discussing responsible conduct of research with a major professor (i.e., thesis adviser) had been one hour or less. Similarly, half of the students reported a total of one hour or less spent discussing such topics with other faculty. In a nationwide survey of doctoral students, Swazey and Anderson (1998) found that, for nearly every defined dimension of training in ethics, more than half of the respondents reported that they received little or no help from any faculty member.

In their 1994 survey of 2,000 doctoral students, Anderson et al. found that departmental climate was the strongest predictor for misconduct. Overall, misconduct occurs more often in those departments in which the climate favors competition and discourages collaboration. However, research misconduct occurred least often in those cases in which students felt that their advisers, or others, provided useful feedback and evaluation. Those findings are consistent with the view that the risk of research misconduct is diminished in environments in which mentoring is provided.