Lab Code-of-Conduct

Updated 2020-09-05

This document serves as a set of policies and guidelines for general research activities while working with my lab group and is largely based on Megan Duffy’s COC from UMichigan.

I value the participation of every contributor to the lab group. I always want to make sure that everyone has an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Please show respect and courtesy to others at all times. Molloy College has several institutional policies on appropriate behavior among peers and between students & professors, as well as well described policies on plagiarism and appropriate conduct. In addition to those policies set forth by the College, this code of conduct is supplemental guidance on how to behave in a collaborative research environment:

Inclusivity and diversity

Enjoyable, high-quality research can only be conducted when you feel safe, secure, and supported. All group members are thus dedicated to a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, and/or religion. We do not tolerate harassment by and/or of members of our group in any form, and we ask all members of the community to conform to the following Code of Conduct:

• All communication, be it online or in person, should be appropriate for a professional audience, and be considerate of people from different cultural backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate at any time.
• Be kind to others and do not insult or put down other group members.
• Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate.
• Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of discussions, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
• Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
• Contribute to discussions in meetings with a constructive, positive approach.
• Be mindful of talking over others when discussing in groups and be willing to hear out the ideas of others.

Besides making group members feel safe and secure, diversity and inclusivity has many benefits to us all. The greater the mix of people in our group, the greater the mix of skills, experiences, perspectives, and ideas we can collectively draw on. But we cannot fully achieve the benefits of diversity and equality without creating an inclusive environment.

We all benefit from feedback: ask for it early, and give it constructively

One specific piece of advice is that criticism is easier to take if it’s delivered as part of a sandwich, where positive feedback is the bread and the (constructively phrased!) suggestions for improvement are in the middle. At the risk of being formulaic about it: compliment, suggestions, compliment.

Support other lab members

We want to build a supportive lab. In addition to me helping out students, you are welcome to help each other out–for example, if someone has a big day for an experiment or doesn’t know how to use a piece tool or needs feedback on work. Over time, try to make sure things balance out so that you are giving as much help as you are receiving.

Honesty & integrity are absolutely essential

Do the right thing. If you make a mistake (and we all do at some point), do your best to acknowledge it and to correct it if possible. If the mistake is science-related, record all the details in your lab notebook and notify me. We all make mistakes; the most important thing is that we acknowledge them so we can take them into account when continuing the study and when looking at the data, and so we can adjust things in the future if needed. Remember that we all build on each other’s data.

We also sometimes make mistakes in our interactions with others. Again, this is something we all do. If you’re unsure how to apologize, there are resources to help.

Be open to new ideas and perspectives

People come from lots of different backgrounds, and in science that is definitely a strength! One reason why it’s a strength is that people from different backgrounds bring different ideas and perspectives to the table, and those are really useful for doing good science. So, be open to new ideas and perspectives, and please contribute your ideas and perspectives. It can sometimes feel daunting to share your ideas, but remember that the worst thing that can happen is you learn something new (e.g., that what you were thinking won’t actually work, and why). The best thing that will happen is we improve our lab practices/science!

Be mindful of power imbalances

Academia is a highly structured system. This means that, broadly speaking, faculty have more power than postdocs who have more power than grad students who have more power than undergrads. (Where technicians and lab managers fit in is variable.) However, there are other things that create power imbalances, too, including gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc. It’s important for us to keep potential power imbalances in mind so that we do not put someone in a position where they don’t feel safe (for example, to say no to something or to voice a concern). If anyone in the lab is making you feel unsafe, please tell me.

Approach your work in the lab with a growth mindset, and consider what is good enough

Two things that can be a challenge for all of us are:

1. thinking we need to do things perfectly, and
2. feeling like there are certain things we are bad at and never will be good at.

In reality, the more we work on something, the better we get at it. An important ability in science (and life!) is recognizing what is good enough. If you are sending a text to a friend, you do not need to word it as carefully as if you are writing a manuscript. This is a topic Megan Duffy has covered in a blog post.

So if we don’t need to be perfect but also want to get better at something, what can we do? Aim for improvement, not perfection. Aim to do one thing that you couldn’t do before. (Here is another blog post on this

• Sharing is caring… Everyone in the lab is expected to share protocols and other resources.
• …except when it’s not. Please remember that, it’s important to know when to stay away. If you’re sick, please stay home. It’s good for your health, the work you do while ill won’t be good anyway, and it reduces disease transmission.
• Work at the times that work for you (but also make sure you get enough sleep, exercise, and breaks). Here is yet another blog post on this from Megan Duffy. Find the hours that work for you to work, and make sure you are leaving time for non-work activities.

It’s important to note that work-life balance and self-care benefit substantially from planning ahead.

Timelines

Speaking of planning ahead & deadlines: you should run abstracts, proposals, manuscripts, etc. by me before you submit them, and need to factor in time for editing things before the deadline. Things like proposals and manuscripts often take many many drafts before they get submitted, so, if something has a deadline, we should work out a plan early in terms of when to have drafts ready by. For meeting abstracts, you should get those to me at least two weeks ahead of the deadline.

Related: if you need a letter of recommendation for something, please let me know at least a month ahead of time.

Please check email/Slack regularly (excluding holidays and weekends)

We all get too many emails, but it’s also an important means of communication for the lab. Please check your email accounts regularly, except for holidays or when you are on vacation.

Netiquette Policy

Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly online. Something about cyberspace makes it easy for people to forget that they are interacting with other real people. The following bullet points cover some basics to communicating online:

1. Be sensitive to the fact that there will be cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as well as different political and religious beliefs, plus just differences in general.
2. Use good taste when composing your responses in Discussion Forums. Swearing and profanity is also part of being sensitive to your classmates and should be avoided. Also consider that slang can be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
3. Don’t use all capital letters when composing your responses as this is considered “shouting” on the Internet and is regarded as impolite or aggressive. It can also be stressful on the eye when trying to read your message.
4. Be respectful of others’ views and opinions. Avoid “flaming” (publicly attacking or insulting) them as this can cause hurt feelings and decrease the chances of getting all different types of points of view.
5. Be careful when using acronyms. If you use an acronym it is best to spell out its meaning first, then put the acronym in parentheses afterward, for example: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). After that you can use the acronym freely throughout your message.
6. Use good grammar and spelling, and avoid using text messaging shortcuts.
7. If you are going to constructively criticize the work of a peer, it is a good idea to point out the strengths of their work before pointing out the weaknesses. Also make sure you have a suggestion for improvement.

Data sharing

In adherence with Open Science policies, we should make all of our analyses, data, and results publicly available. If you are working on a computational project, you will be asked to share your scripts in a version control environment (likely in github). Data should be shared with the lab group in whatever format is appropriate and final results files should be shared in a public repository such as Zenodo, NCBI, or similar. I will help guide you through using these resources as we work together.