I do solemnly swear…
Janet Raloff
The Hippocratic Oath figures prominently in history and popular culture, especially television dramas. Physicians taking the pledge promise, among other things, to "first, do no harm"—a powerful statement of ethics. A few years ago, the Paris-based International Council for Science (ICSU) decided to investigate whether the global scientific community might benefit from having its own analog to the Hippocratic Oath.
As a first step, ICSU's Standing Committee on Responsibility and Ethics in Science decided last year to conduct a broad review of existing codes among researchers. Vivian Weil described the project last month in San Francisco at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting.
Such voluntary codes of conduct are surprisingly common, she observes. They have diverse goals, such as avoiding data falsification, respecting diversity and creativity, protecting whistleblowers, preventing research contributions to warfare or environmental destruction, and avoiding legal liabilities.
The Center for Study of Ethics in the Profession that Weil heads at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago has already logged some 850 codes onto its Web site. However, most of IIT's collection represents U.S. institutions. Looking for a more international cross-section, ICSU has put out feelers in Latin America, Africa, the Far East, and elsewhere.
To date, it has assembled 101 codes, including some from the IIT collection. Of these, 37 are international and 27 are from interdisciplinary groups. Some codes are labeled as pledges, others as oaths, manifestos, guidelines, or declarations. Their guiding principles also vary widely, from educational to aspirational—and even include regulatory ones.
By year's end, Weil's committee plans to compare the collected codes, determine what purpose each serves, and identify what they have in common.
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Letters:
About the Hippocratic Oath, as quoted in "I do solemnly swear …," "first, do not harm" is not in it, although it has been said so dozens of times. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary's version of the oath states "… never do harm to anyone." "First, do no harm" (Primum non nocere) has been attributed to Galen, who practiced 550 to 600 years later than Hippocrates.
Stephen Sheffrey
Ann Arbor, MI
Further Readings:
Information about the oath and law of Hippocrates is available at http://www.medword.com/hippocrates.html.
Sources:
ICSU Secretariat
International Council for Science
51 Boulevard de Montmorency
F-75016 Paris
France
Web site: http://www.icsu.org/
E-mail: icsu@lmcp.jussieu.fr
Committee on Responsibility and Ethics in Science
Post Box 522
Sentrum
0105 Oslo
Norway
Vivian Weill
Center for Study of Ethics in the Professions
Illinois Institute of Technology
HUB Mezzanine, #204
3241 South Federal Street
Chicago, IL 60616-3793
From Science News, Volume 159, No. 10, March 10, 2001, p. 159.
