A recent dispute between American and Spanish scientists over
the naming of a planetoid has led to concerns about the safety of
using the Internet for scientific research.
Michael Brown, an astronomy professor at the California
Institute of Technology, posted files on the Internet detailing
where he was pointing his telescope to view a planetoid that he had
been studying for months in the Kuiper Belt. A group of Spanish
researchers used the Internet to view the files and, before Brown
could announce his discovery, declared the planetoid their own
without giving attribution to Brown, according to the Los Angeles
Times.
Once Brown found out his research was used by the Spanish
researchers to make the discovery, and that they hadn’t just
made the discovery based on their own research as he originally
thought, the international feud began.
Brown told the Los Angeles Times the incident should be taken as
a warning of the slippery nature of Internet research.
“This is a wake-up call for scientists,” he said in
the article.
Mark Morris, an astronomy professor at UCLA, said everyone is
taking a closer look at the security of their research as a result
of this dispute.
“From what I can gather … the Spanish group
surreptitiously gathered information from Brown’s group and
used that in a way that most of us would not regard as
honest,” he said.
For the scientists who choose pen and paper instead of the
Internet, however, avoiding paper cuts is a more relevant concern
in daily research than wondering who’s peeking at online
data.
“I’m rather old-fashioned and not very computer
literate,” said Ferdinand Coroniti, the vice chair of
astronomy and astrophysics at UCLA.
Coroniti said he keeps his research papers scattered across his
desk. He said the field he is in ““ that of theory ““
isn’t so aggressive as other fields to necessitate the use of
the Internet in research.
Those who do choose the Internet are taking their chances, he
said.
“Putting (research) on the Internet, what they’re
hoping to do is capture attention,” he said.
Christopher Lee, an associate professor in chemistry and
biochemistry at UCLA, said using the Internet in research is
basically a must nowadays, with grant-funding sources, such as the
National Institute of Health, often requiring funded researchers to
post their data online. He said when researchers submit papers to
journals, sometimes peer review referees will act as if they expect
to be able to access the data.
“The Internet is a fantastic and essential medium of
communication,” he said, citing the ability to post large
amounts of data online that would be impractical to print in paper
journals as a benefit of the Internet.
Lee also mentioned the Human Genome Project, which used the
Internet extensively, as an example of the good the Internet can do
for worldwide research.
The last decade has shown what a “fantastic impact”
the Internet can have, he said.
In using the technology, researchers have a responsibility to
maintain ethical standards, Lee said.
“If research depends upon or makes use of someone
else’s data, you have to cite them properly. In extreme
cases, that might even involve giving them co-authorship,” he
said.
Lee said granting co-authorship is not only ethically important,
but also helps researchers to get funding and to get published, as
authorship is an achievement that can enhance a researcher’s
reputation.