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Guidelines Help Researchers Use Images Accurately and Ethically

Paul K. Mueller | Nov. 8, 2010

Conducting research in an ethical manner is the responsibility of every person involved in a research project.  While the vast majority of work is reported in an honest, accurate, and straightforward manner, scientists may not always know if what they are doing is inappropriate -- especially with the advancement of computer software that allows for easy data treatment and manipulation.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Research Integrity (ORI), common questionable data-manipulation practices are:

  • Selective enhancements
  • Cropping
  • Contrast/brightness adjustments
  • Color adjustments
  • Cloning objects into an image
  • Resizing.

ORI has developed an informative website that provides guidelines and best practices for the responsible conduct of research.

The UC San Diego Office of Research Affairs encourages researchers in all disciplines to visit the ORI website, as well as our campus’ Office of Research Ethics, and to become re-acquainted with ethical standards of research.

Here’s a quick look at the ORI guidelines for image processing:

Treat Images as Data: Digital scientific images should be treated as data.  
 
Filters Degrade Data: Use of software filters to improve image quality is usually not recommended for biological images.

Save the Original: Manipulation of digital images should always be done on a copy of the raw image data. The original must be retained. 

Cloning Degrades Data: Cloning objects into an image or from other parts of the image is very questionable.

Make Simple Adjustments: Simple adjustments to the entire image are usually acceptable. 

Make Intensity Measurements: Intensity measurements of digital images should be performed on raw data and the data should be calibrated to a known standard.

Cropping Is Usually OK: Cropping an image is usually acceptable. 
 
Lossy Compression Degrades Data: Avoid the use of “lossy” compression, in which some data is lost.

Comparing Images: Digital images that will be compared to one another should be acquired under identical conditions. 

Issues With Magnification: Magnification and resolution issues are important.

Manipulating the Entire Image: Manipulations that are specific to one area of an image and are not performed on other areas are questionable. 

Issues With Pixels: Be careful when changing the size (in pixels) of a digital image.


Review all the guidelines and best practices here:

http://ori.dhhs.gov/education/products/RIandImages/default.html

http://research.ucsd.edu/training.html  


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