Universities and other grant recipients seek to comply with requirement that curricula include moral rectitude courses
"So what do you do if you see misconduct in scientific research?" asked a student at last month's introductory lecture for a new "Ethics in Research" series, organized jointly by New York's Rockefeller University, Cornell University Medical College, and the Sloan-Kettering Institute.

Cornell medical dean, Robert Michels responded to the question by voicing his school's official policy. But in his talk he also supplied a few addenda: He reminded the student, for instance, that whistle-blowers don't get treated well by our society, and that it's not generally accepted to rat on your friends.

But he also added the overriding message: The greater moral imperative is to tell the truth--even at the risk of personal disadvantage.

These days, such pronouncements on misconduct, whistle-blowing, moral imperatives, and the like are being heard not only in the...

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