How to go about this without being sketchy

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This summer I'm trying to get into a research project at my college. About 12 people have already asked for a similar position but have been turned down by the professor. I have a decent chance of getting the position because I am friends with one of the professor's grad students. He is going out of his way to get me this job, so he gave me all of the papers for his research project. A few days ago, I found out that I'm not even supposed to have the complete project overview. I haven't showed any information from the papers to anyone, so I'm not doing anything bad with it. I'm not doing anything illegal like copying the papers or distributing them. I have a meeting with the professor next week, and I have to talk about how I know about the project. If I tell the professor about the papers I got, I will get myself and my friend in trouble. The only way I can get away with it, is that I have to tell a bit of a white lie. I The problem is that I'm a terrible liar. I'm one of those aspies who tends to be brutally honest. I just need to know the words to say without getting anyone in trouble. Should I try to find similar information from online or magazine sources or should I just say that my friend told me the information? Have any other aspies(or NTs) been in a situation where they have to tell a minor lie? How did you deal with it? I just need to get away from my poor lying this one time.

Just be brief. That's almost the most important thing about white lies.

Just say your friend told you the information. (even if you also look up stuff online, don't emphasize that because that is complicating things)

I would probably pass on the job, but if you really want it and to also protect your friend, I would demonstrate my abilities and research the topic so that all of my information is not from just these papers and to make sure to avoid discussing anything confidential. I would mention first off that your friend told you a bit about the project (the non-confidential parts) which got you interested in the position, then you researched what you could find on similar projects. In this way, it shows that you have more than a passing interest in the job (which is true) and that you did your own research as well (which is also true). I don't think many would question you on confidentiality unless it is something of great importance or requires special clearance to participate in.

It isn't your fault that your friend shared confidential information, but if you think you might get him in trouble, I'd probably pass on the position just to maintain my friendship and integrity. I don't envy your choice, under certain situations I would probably consider the same thing, but it has a good chance of a positive outcome if you do the extra work and are honest.

I agree....I also understand why you'd be temped to do it....research positions are very hard for students to get. Still, you're only 18 and you've got lots of time to apply for various other positions if you don't get this and you might still get the job without reference to the project. Are you in first year uni? You've got SO much time to apply for other opportunities and get your experience. It would be unethical to use an unfair advantage to get the job and even if other researchers are unethical doesn't mean you should be. So I say don't do it.

Thanks! This sounds like a good idea to me. I also forgot to mention that it is a volunteer position rather than an actual job. I won't be getting any money or credits for this. Some of the other students were likely looking to get paid. I will be taking over another student's work because she will be gone over the summer. Most of the work will be quite simple because I am just starting out. I have done some of my own research online about certain aspects of the project.

@daydreamer-This is my first year at the uni, but I plan to graduate early because I took a lot of AP classes in high school. Most of the people in my classes now are two years older than me. I want to start doing research early because I plan to graduate in 2 years. More research experience will increase my chance of getting into graduate programs. Mostly, I want to research for the sake of learning. That's why I want to volunteer. I had no idea about this opportunity until my friend told me about it. I'm sure why he's so adamant about getting me to work on this project either. I guess I asked him how to get into volunteering, but I didn't think he would help me this much. He's basically been telling me exactly how to get the volunteer position. He said I was ahead for my age as far as my classes.

I don't think you should pass this up because your friend made a mistake, that isn't fair, why should you miss out on a great oppotunity? Just be honest with the professor or if you don't want to get you friend into trouble more than you want the job just don't say anything - but also do your OWN research, and maybe even provide evidence of your research to back yourself up, that way you can go to the interview and not feel guilty or lie. Why not even destroy the confidential information he has given you, you don't need that.

Best of luck with whatever decision you chose

Try something like this;

Him "How did you learn about the project?"
You "I actually just stumbled across it through pure luck and that never happens to me. I'm very excited and interested and would love to be a part of it. So, tell me <ask something about the project to change the subject>"

If he keeps asking just say "I heard about it from someone who let a very small amount of information slip. I'm not going to name any names but I will tell you that it was an accident on their part and not a common occurance at all, as this person is very trustworthy. That's all I feel comfortable saying about that"

Or, you could be a bit diabolical and say that a person who is also applying for the job and stands a better chance than you of getting it, told you about it. Then swear the professor to secrecy and mention something about how the person really does try very hard but can't keep secrets to save their life.

That's actually a really good plan. Then you can still talk about the project, let him know you did get this information from someone else who shouldn't really have given it to you (if you do that then I don't think it's unethical) but avoid getting your friend in trouble for it. Good luck, OP.

Maybe you could ask your friend exactly how much of a problem it is that they told you this confidential stuff. Maybe it isn't actually that much of a problem at all--you're not going to a rival laboratory with it, and if you're going to be working on the project yourself you'll have to know about it anyway. If it turns out that it's just one of those things that is only confidential because they don't want somebody beating them to publication, then it might not be such a problem--you're an undergrad and you have no connections with anybody who'd want to do that, and in any case you're not the sort of person who'd leak information to somebody who didn't do the work on it and wants to take credit.

I have already met the professor because my friend told him that I wanted to talk to him before a seminar I went to last week. The prof knows that I found out about the project from his grad student, he just doesn't know that I have all the project papers. Overall, I'll put most of my focus on my questions regarding the project rather than where I got the information. Maybe he won't even ask.



All of the papers I got are already published and full of highlighter and notes. They are probably useless to other labs. The print quality is actually pretty bad. My friend had already emailed me and told me not to mention that I had the lab's papers. I can understand that because I don't think undergrads are supposed to get in-depth information about projects before working on them. Most undergrads can find the project overviews online, but not the papers themselves. My friend implied that he will probably get in trouble if the prof finds out. I should keep quiet about it anyway because several other undergrads are looking for a similar position in this lab. I even found out that one of my undergrad friends was going for the same job. I also appreciate my friend helping me to do this project, so getting him in trouble would be really unfair.

Okay, that's kind of silly! All you'd have to do is go to your school library, find a journal article database, plug in the head researcher's name, and there you go--all the papers they published. That's what publishing means. You make it public. Anybody can read it. Why in the world would they tell you not to tell that they had given you the papers? That's... I just don't get it.

Thanks for the advice guys/girls! I had the meeting with the prof on Monday and everything went fine. He didn't even ask me where I got information for the project. He assumed that my friend had just told me a bit about the project and that I looked up the rest on the internet. I got the volunteer position at the lab this summer too! I'll have to thank my friend for all of his help next time I see him.

Awesome news! Congratulations!

Congratulations, I hope you enjoy the position .

Congratulations,OP!

Thanks Everyone!