A group of Michigan State University researchers hopes to find out if belonging to a diverse research team scientists more prone to share their data and give appropriate credit to colleagues in their publications, using a five-year, $600,000 National Science Foundation grant to study how demographic and disciplinary diversity affects scientists’ ethical behaviors.

“If, as we anticipate, scientists’ ethical standards and practices are improved by promoting more diverse research teams, that’s an important argument for increasing diversity in science,” said Kevin Elliott, an  associate professor in Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Fisheries, and Wildlife and the Department of Philosophy. “And, increasing diversity can create a scientific community that’s more sensitive to all sectors of society.”