GRADUATE TEACHING IN PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY

Training in the responsible conduct of research in the biomedical scie nces is on its way to being a standard component in the graduate biome dical curriculum. Emphasis in this area has been catalyzed by certain requirements for such training imposed by the National Institutes of H ealth and by an increased awareness of relevant issues created by the publicity and discussion of incidents of scientific misconduct. The au thors describe the development and formalization of a course about the responsible conduct of science for students in the biomedical discipl ines at Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition, they discuss ge neral considerations of course content important in teaching scientifi c integrity; examine the use of published resource materials and docum ents from professional societies, institutions, states, and the federa l government as teaching tools; and describe the importance of case st udies as vehicles for teaching scientific integrity.