Duration and eligibility

Objectives

1. To introduce the basics of philosophy of science and ethics.
2. To inculcate research integrity.
3. To discuss publication ethics.
4. To educate on how to identify research misconduct and predatory publications.
5. To discuss Indexing and citation databases.
6. To provide information on open access publications and research metrics.
7. To introduce various plagiarism tools.

Course Outcomes

1. Understanding of basics of philosophy of science and ethics.
2. Knowledge of research integrity.
3. Understanding of publication ethics.
4. Knowledge of identifying research misconduct and predatory publications.
5. Knowledge of Indexing and citation databases.
6. Knowledge of open access publications and research metrics.
7. Knowledge of various plagiarism tools.

Pedagogy:

Class room teaching, guest lectures, group discussions, and practical sessions.

Evaluation :

Continuous assessment will be done through tutorials, assignment, quizzes, and group discussions. Weightage will be given for active participation. Final written examination will be conducted at the end of the course.

1. Students, who have 75% attendance, will be considered eligible for the test.
2. The procedure of assessment will be divided into three sections:
1. Mid-Term Test consist of 25 marks giving multiple options of questions (MCQ, fill in the blanks, yes/no, true/false, etc.)
2. Assignments (Journal review, finding impact factor, quiz, and group discussion session, etc.) consists of 25 marks.
3. A descriptive written test of 50 marks based on the part of the syllabus covered in the General Sessions on RPE Course.

Syllabus

Course Structure : The course comprised of six modules listed in table below. Each module has 4-5 units.

Syllabus In Details

THEORY (15 hrs.)

RPE 01: Philosophy and Ethics (3 hrs.)

1. Introduction to Philosophy: definition, nature and scope, concept, branches
2. Ethics: Definition, moral philosophy, nature of moral judgments and reactions.

RPE 02: Scientific Conduct (5 hrs.)

1. Ethics with respect to science and research (Ethics with respect to Research in AIHC and Archaeology; Ethics with respect to Research in Linguistics; Ethics with respect to Research in Sanskrit & Lexicography)
2. Intellectual honesty and research integrity
3. Scientific misconducts: Falsification, Fabrication and Plagiarism (FFP)
4. Redundant publications: duplicate and overlapping publications, salami slicing
5. Selective reporting and misrepresentation of data

RPE 03: Publication Ethics (7 hrs.)

1. Publication ethics: definition, introduction and importance
2. Best practices/standards setting initiatives and guidelines: COPE, WAME etc.
3. Conflicts of interest
4. Publication misconduct: Definition, concept, problems that lead to unethical behaviour and vice versa, types
5. Violation of publication ethics, authorship and contributorship
6. Identification of publication misconduct, complaints and appeals
7. Predatory publishers and journals

PRACTICE (15 hrs.)

RPE 04: Open Access Publishing (4 hrs.)

1. Open access publications and initiatives
2. SHERPA/RoMEO online resource to check publisher copyright & self-archiving policies
3. Software tool to identify predatory publications developed by SPPU: UGC-CARE list of journals
4. Journal finder/journal suggestion tools viz. JANE, Elsevier Journal Finder, Springer Journal Suggester, etc.

RPE 05: Publication Misconduct

1. Group discussions (2 hrs.)
1. Subject specific ethical issues, FFP, authorship
2. Conflicts of interest
3. Complaints and appeals: examples and fraud from India and abroad
2. Software tools (2 hrs.)
1. SPSS- Use of reference management software like SPSS, Zotero etc. and anti- plagiarism software like Turnitin/Urkund/Drillbit

RPE 06: Databases and research metrics

1. Databases (4 hrs.)
1. Indexing databases
2. Citation databases: Web of Science, Scopus etc.
2. Research Metrics (3 hrs.)
1. Impact factor of journal as per Journal Citation Report, SNIP, SJR, IPP, Cite Score
2. Metrics: h-index, g-index, i-10 index, altmetrics

REFERENCES

1. Bird, A. (2006). Philosophy of Science. Routledge.
2. Maclntyre, Alasdair (1967) A Short History of Ethics. London.
3. P. Chaddah, (2018) Ethics in Competitive Research: Do not get scooped; do not get plagiarized, ISBN:978- 9387480865
4. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. (2009). On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition. National Academies Press.
5. Resnik, D. B. (2011). What is ethics in research & why is it important. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 1-10. Retrieved from https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/index.cfrn
6. Beall, J. (2012). Predatory publishers are corrupting open access. Nature, 489(7415), 179-179. https://doi.org/10.1038/489179a
7. Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Ethics in Science Education, Research and Governance (2019), ISBN: 978-81-939482-1-7. http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/Ethics_Book.pdf

Fee Structure

Registered Ph.D. Students of Deccan College (free of cost)
Rs.2000/- (For Faculties, Research Staff, and Students from outside DC)

• Registration letter issued for PhD by the College/University.
• Post-Graduate degree certificate by the College/University.
• A letter of confirmation of the admission will be issued to the candidate after the documents specified above have been submitted, verified and found in order.

Individual passing in all three components is compulsory for every student.:

1. Thus, Mid Term Tests (25 marks), Assignments (25 marks), and written tests (50 marks) will be scored out of 100 marks.
2. To be eligible to pass in the examination of the course a student should secure minimum passing percentage of 50% i.e., 50 marks out of 100 marks (MCQ test, Written test and assignment marks taken together. However, minimum 7 marks in the written test are required).
3. The grade will be assigned to the students on the basis of marks they secure out of 100. The grade will appear on the certificate



Grade	Marks
O	80-100
A	71-79
B	60-70
C	50-59
F	Less than 50