My thesis project for my bachelor's degree is a type of electronic military helmet. I want to insert a disclaimer in the thesis paper that I'm not responsible for any misusing of the book contents, but where I can put it? And what should I write?
-
11Actually, you probably are responsible.– BuffyCommented Nov 6, 2020 at 22:50
-
7Rest assured no one reads bachelor's theses.– Azor Ahai -him-Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 22:52
-
8Whom do you hope, on reading such a disclaimer, will change their mind about holding you responsible?– user128581Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 22:57
-
5Are you asking about a legal disclaimer (to protect you from potential lawsuits and/or criminal charges), or are you asking about more a moral disclaimer, disavowing any personal sense of responsibility? This site is probably not the best place to get an answer to the former. law.stackexchange.com or (better yet) an actual lawyer would be a better bet. A moral disclaimer, on the other hand, has no actual weight behind it (i.e. it doesn't really mean anything), so as long as it makes you feel better and your committee finds it acceptable ...– R.M.Commented Nov 6, 2020 at 23:43
-
5If it was a medical helmet, your disclaimer might sound believable (i.e. abuse of a medical device for military purposes). Given that it is a military helmet, any disclaimer is going to look really - to put it politely - contradictory. Better not to say anything.– Captain EmacsCommented Nov 7, 2020 at 1:11
|
Show 4 more comments
1 Answer
Talk to your professor.
Your professor is going to be the one marking your paper, so they're the natural one for you to ask. As the comments pointed out, it's unlikely that anyone's going to be reading your thesis besides the professor who's marking it, so asking your professor about the best way to ethically address the potential for your research subject to be misused is probably the best way to go.
Your university would also have some form of ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) that you could talk to, but at your level, if you were doing something that required the IRB to sign off on it, it's likely that the professor has likely already done so before proposing this as an area of research for your undergraduate thesis.
-
I downvoted because I do not think it is at all relevant who will be grading the paper, and whether it is likely that anyone will read it. Also, you assume that the professor or ethics committee have looked at it. While this is not totally unreasonable, the concerns of the student are very reasonable and should be properly addressed - not ignored by assuming "everything is fine". I do agree with the conclusion though: "talk to your professor" is the way forward.– LouicCommented Nov 7, 2020 at 8:51
-
1
-
Unfortunately, the professor wasn't that helpful and didn't provide us a guide about this.– AidakfCommented Nov 8, 2020 at 21:21
-
@Aidakf They didn’t answer your question when you asked them? Commented Nov 9, 2020 at 0:09
-
He said, look at the previous similar thesis and try to find where and how to put it, and there were none with a disclaimer– AidakfCommented Nov 9, 2020 at 9:02