The rights of individual scholars to select their topics of research and sources of research support, to draw conclusions for which they bear sole responsibility, and to be protected from the imposition on their work of external goals or criteria are paramount to this academic community. The primary means for controlling the quality of the scholarly activities of this Faculty is through the rigorous academic standards applied in selecting its members. Only teaching members of the Faculty and a few others whose scholarly qualification have been thoroughly scrutinized 1 are accorded the right to serve as principal investigators and to seek external research support. Guaranteeing scholars the right to conduct research that may not meet with the approval of colleagues does not absolve them of the obligation to defend their research to the community should the occasion arise.
Scholars have a responsibility to make their case and to listen to reasonable criticism.
Although limitations on the rights of individual scholars to select research topics and to draw their own conclusions are undesirable, certain limitations on the methods and techniques of research are necessary and appropriate. Decisions on techniques that threaten human health, invade personal privacy without consent, or inflict unnecessary pain or suffering on any living things, and on programs that interfere with the research of other scholars by preempting space and facilities or committing the unrestricted funds of the University, warrant broader input. The development of a specific set of standards to cover all foreseeable problems does not seem feasible. The range of possibilities is too broad. The Faculty has therefore adopted general principles to guide it in preserving and protecting the freedom of research and in limiting research methods where necessary.