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Observations on the Responsible Development and Use of Computational Models and Simulations

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Abstract

Most previous works on responsible conduct of research have focused on good practices in laboratory experiments. Because computation now rivals experimentation as a mode of scientific research, we sought to identify the responsibilities of researchers who develop or use computational modeling and simulation. We interviewed nineteen experts to collect examples of ethical issues from their experiences in conducting research with computational models. We gathered their recommendations for guidelines for computational research. Informed by these interviews, we describe the respective professional responsibilities of developers and users of computational models in research. In particular, we examine whether developers should disclose the full computational codes, and we explain how developers and users should minimize harms from improper uses of models.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Matthew Keefer and Sara Wilson for helpful suggestions. We thank the computational modeling experts for the interviews. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant IIS-0832843.

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Correspondence to Michael C. Loui.

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Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, Exelon Corporation, or the University of Illinois.

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Kijowski, D.J., Dankowicz, H. & Loui, M.C. Observations on the Responsible Development and Use of Computational Models and Simulations. Sci Eng Ethics 19, 63–81 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9291-1

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