Considering Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of Research in Tribology and in Engineering

The scientific corpus in technical fields such tribology is not immune from the harm resulting from unethical research behavior, whether intentional or unintentional. When combining this with an increasingly competitive and globalized scientific arena, the research environment can become quite fertile grounds for spawning unethical research behavior. At the same time, the increasing speed of the dissemination of research results due to the various online publication formats has highlighted the need for honest and transparent publications. Primarily developed from research conduct training modules created by the second author and his team at the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), this primer paper serves to illuminate the tenets of responsible research conduct for senior, mid-career and junior tribologists, in addition to scientists in related fields of engineering who want to know what it means to rigorously pursue scientific research in an ethical manner.