Roles and Responsibilities of a Researcher

A researcher’s job is to discover or confirm, in a responsible manner, evidence-based knowledge that can benefit society or the world. However, the role of a researcher is much wider than the job description and the responsibilities of a researcher are numerous. In this article, we will take a brief look at the many responsibilities a researcher that must be fulfilled to play this role effectively.

Varied roles of a researcher

A good researcher needs to be many things to many people; here are some researcher duties and responsibilities:

• Scientist – The primary role of a researcher is to conduct research, be that through experimental studies, literature reviews, or qualitative studies. This includes designing experiments and writing reports.
• Colleague/collaborator – Researcher duties and responsibilities often include collaborations with colleagues on scientific studies as well as review others’ work and provide feedback.
• Communicator – The role of a researcher includes communicating with various audiences about their work. Journal articles need to be written, grant applications completed, and presentations made to review boards and decision makers.
• Steward of the public trust – Many studies are funded with public resources, which come with the need for accountability. The responsibility of a researcher is to fulfill obligations required by the funding source, such as creating reports and presentations.
• Advocate – Researcher’s duties and responsibilities often include promoting their work to policymakers or others who can help apply the knowledge gained. They advocate for their work, their discipline, and sometimes even for science itself.

 Responsibilities of a researcher

As with the medical profession and its Hippocratic Oath, the main overarching responsibility of a researcher is to do no harm. This is especially important in today’s environment and encompasses a wider reach than simply ensuring the safety and well-being of research subjects, although that is vitally important. It means behaving in a proper manner rather than engaging in unacceptable behavior¹.

Obviously, the primary role of a researcher is chasing knowledge and conducting studies. However, it is also essential that any conclusions reached through the research be evidence based. The results reported must be honest, objective, and scientifically supported. Here are some examples of ethical issues that a good researcher must consider when designing and conducting studies, reporting results, and drawing conclusions²:

• Over generalizing results – all studies have limitations. It is the responsibility of a researcher to openly reveal their limitations to ensure their work is useful and can be built on.
• Biased methodology or conclusions – this is especially important in qualitative studies. Researchers need to ask themselves if the survey questions are fair or if their own opinions are clouding the results.
• Correlation does not imply causation – a competent researcher will ensure they do not make this common mistake.
• Not considering other related factors – a researcher’s duties and responsibilities include being open to all possibilities and comprehensively consider them.
• Not understanding the data – the types and amount of data currently available are extremely vast and easy to misinterpret. Good researchers know exactly how their data were gathered and stored and will ask questions about the data’s validity and origin.

If you’re conducting your research in a university or commercial setting, most of these aspects will probably be regulated, well-known, and overseen by an advisor, supervisor, or institutional research board.

Ethical responsibilities of a researcher

In addition to the ethical responsibilities specific to scientific studies discussed above, an effective researcher’s duties and responsibilities mean adhering to some general ethical principles, including the following^1,2.

• Honesty – report all data, results, and procedures honestly, without fabrication or misrepresentation.
• Objectivity – recognize and avoid bias in all aspects of research and behavior.
• Integrity – keep promises, behave consistently, always be sincere in your interactions, and respect intellectual property standards.
• Openness – practice transparency in all your professional activities, share ideas, data, results, and feedback. Be open to new ideas and criticism.
• Privacy and confidentiality – a key responsibility of a researcher would be to protect the privacy of research participants, safely maintain confidential documents, data, and trade secrets.
• Ethical treatment of research participants – one of the most important researcher duties and responsibilities is to treat research participants, both human and animal, respectfully and according to current guidelines.

No research is ever done in a vacuum, even if the study is being conducted by one person alone. In fact, all meaningful scientific research is built on a foundation laid by those who came before. So for good researchers, it’s all about the work – theirs and others. Thus, a take care to be ethical in their professional behavior and attitude and treat all colleagues fairly and respectfully.

Science has been getting some bad press lately; therefore, it is the responsibility of a researcher to behave ethically and model good scientific practice to the public. Instead of giving the public reasons to distrust your intelligence and knowledge, engage with them in an open and honest way, build trust with your audience, and let them see what effective research is about.

Finally, the role of a researcher is also have a social responsibility to ensure that their work is for the benefit of society, causes no harm to the environment or to others, and helps make the world a better place.

By demonstrating a willingness to shoulder these often unwritten responsibilities of a researcher, one can earn the respect of their colleagues, decision makers, and the public, which will ensure that their work will be respected as well.

References

1. 1. Resnik, D.B. What Is Ethics in Research & Why Is It Important? U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 23 December, 2020. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/index.cfm.
   2. Purdue University. Common Pitfalls of Primary Research. Purdue Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/conducting_research/conducting_primary_research

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips. 

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today!