Workshop on Newer Guidelines in Clinical Research and Publication Ethics

The first session was taken by Dr.Vikram Palimar on the introductory part of bioethics. He has highlighted on the core principles of bioethics such as Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence and Justice. He also highlighted on the principle of essentiality in the conduct of research activities. The video played on ‘Tuskegee syphilis study’ made an impact on the understanding of the principles of bioethics. This was followed by interactive session on ‘Publication ethics’. The major elements in publication ethics were discussed with the case scenarios. This interactive session gave an insight on the various aspects of publication ethics such as reporting of positive and negative outcome of the study, plagiarism, misappropriateness of the ideas of others, fabrication and falsification, authorship issues and the authorship guidelines including the Vancouver guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the conflict of interest.

The second session was taken by Dr. Vasudha Devi, Professor, Department of pharmacology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, MAHE Manipal. She has highlighted on the difference between law and ethics followed by discussion on various research studies conducted between 1938-1972, where the ethical principles of research was violated and through which emphasized on the importance of following the ethical guidelines while carrying out any research activities. The research elements of autonomy, informed consent and vulnerability was discussed in depth with the illustration of different case scenarios. Also discussed on the types of data and risks involved in conducting research. Around 21 participants attended the program.The workshop ended with the expression of gratitude by Dr.Melita Sheilini, Asst.Professor and the secretary for institutional bioethics committee, MCON Manipal.