Education & Career Trends: Research Ethics and Misconduct

Edition: August 2nd, 2021
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS

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• Excerpts from article published on enago.com

Ethics are the moral principles that a person must follow, irrespective of the place or time. Behaving ethically involves doing the right thing at the right time. Research ethics focus on the moral principles that researchers must follow in their respective fields of research.

Why does ethics matter?

Ethical decision making in academic research focuses on providing maximum benefits to the participants. Following ethical principles in research is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the study.

Here are some ethical principles that you must follow:

1. Honesty: Ensure honesty in all forms of scientific communication with colleagues, sponsors or the general public.
2. Objectivity: Avoid bias in all aspects of research.
3. Integrity: Maintain consistency of thought and action.
4. Carefulness: Avoid errors or negligence at all times.
5. Openness: Share information about your research and be open to criticism and new ideas.
6. Transparency: Disclose all the necessary information needed to evaluate your research.
7. Accountability: Be responsible for all concerns related to your research.
8. Intellectual Property: Avoid plagiarism, give proper credit to all contribution in your research and honour all forms of intellectual property.
9. Confidentiality: Protect and safeguard all confidential information recorded in your research.
10. Responsible Publication: Publish for the sole reason to advance the knowledge in your field.
11. Responsible Mentoring: Help and mentor other researchers and promote their welfare.
12. Respect for Colleagues: Respect and treat all your colleagues fairly.
13. Social Responsibility: Aim to promote social good through your research.
14. Non-Discrimination: Avoid discrimination in all forms against colleagues.
15. Competence: Improve your own personal competence and also promote the competence of science as a whole.
16. Legality: Obey all relevant laws and policies.
17. Animal Care: Respect and care for all animal species.
18. Human Subjects Protection: Respect human dignity and take special precautions wherever needed.

The Nuremberg Code

• One of the more famous ethical guidelines followed in medical research is the Nuremberg Code.
• Using the Nuremberg Code shows a commitment to respect research participants.
• The terrible experiments conducted by the Nazis during the Second World War inspired the formulation of the Nuremberg Code.
• It aimed to protect human subjects from enduring the kind of cruelty and exploitation the prisoners endured at concentration camps.

Making ethical decisions

Here are some core principles that guide ethical decision making:

1. Commitment to ethical principles

You must be committed to ethical principles. This means choosing an ethical behavior even if it delays your work or means not getting published quickly in a prestigious journal.

2. Authenticate the facts

You must determine the authenticity of the facts. It is important to evaluate the credibility of the information before taking any decisions regarding the research.

Create a list of actions you could take and evaluate the consequences of each one. Make a final choice that seeks to minimise harm and build trust. Ethical decision making also affects how you report research data and who can be considered an author.

3. Give due credit to all researchers

Ethics governs not just the treatment provided to the research participants but also to the researchers. Any researcher who contributes substantially to a research project or paper needs to get credit. This holds true even if the researcher is a student.

4. Discuss the details before writing the paper

It is best to have a discussion before writing the research paper about naming the authors on the final paper. That way, everyone involved can have their say.

5. Ensure that participation is voluntary not forced

Researchers need to ensure that they do not wield undue influence over others. A professor may want to recruit his or her students for a study. In this case, they must make it clear that participation is voluntary, not compulsory. Moreover, no student must feel pressured to participate.

What research participants should be aware of

Informed consent is a key principle of research ethics. It is important that the person who is invited to be part of the research understands both the benefits and the risks involved. They must have all the information that could affect their decision to participate.

Each potential research participant should know:

• Why the study is being done
• How long it will last
• What methods will be used
• Whether they have the right to not participate or to leave the study at any time
• What are the possible risks or benefits involved
• What are the limits of confidentiality
• Whom they can contact for their queries

There are general codes of ethics for different disciplines. Regardless of the discipline, all ethical research guidelines seek to maximise good and minimise ill effects. All research must seek to answer questions that will benefit humanity. The risks must be minimised as far as humanly possible.

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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)

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