Research Ethics - This presentation was prepared and presented during Ph.D. coursework at the University of Mysore 2021.

1. Research Ethics
Importance, Principles/ Guidelines; Major Ethical Issues; Ethics Committees; Publication Ethics.
Muruli N
Research Scholar
Department of Library and Information Science
University of Mysore

2. Presentation Outlines
What is Research Ethics?
Major Ethical Issues
Guidelines / Principles
COPE, WAME
Other Ethical Guidelines

4. What is Ethics?
• Set of moral principles or values, that govern a
person’s behaviour. The discipline of dealing
with what is good and bad.
• The English word ethics is derived from the
Ancient Greek word ēthikós, meaning
"relating to one's character“.
• A group of moral principles or set of values; a
particular theory or system or moral values; that
govern an individual or a profession.

6. Research Ethics
• Research ethics defines the way to incorporate
ethical principles into research practice in all
stages of research process.
• Source: Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology, 2020

8. Plagiarism
•Copying someone’s work
•Citing a Source Improperly
•Failure to cite a source
•Creation of false source
Source: https://uj.ac.za.libguides.com/c.php?g=581181&p=4011821

10. UGC Regulations - 2018
Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational
Institutions - Regulations, 2018

11. Source: https://www.ndtv.com/business/from-three-wheeler-to-four-wheeler-via-twitter-a-gift-from-anand-mahindra-1689453

12. Fabrication & Falsification
• Fabrication is making up data or results and
recording or reporting them.
• Falsification is manipulating research materials,
equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting
data or results such that the research is not
accurately represented in the research record.
▫ It is commonly hypothesized that scientists are more
likely to engage in data falsification and fabrication
when they are subject to pressures to publish, when
they are not restrained by forms of social control,
when they work in countries lacking policies to tackle
scientific misconduct.
▫ Source: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/126805v1

13. Conti...
• Publishing the same paper in two different journals
without telling the editor.
• Indulging a colleague as an author on a paper even
though the colleague did not make a serious
contribution to the paper.
• Using inappropriate statistical technique in order to
enhance the significance of research work;
• Poor data storage and retention: Should be available
for verification of others. Failing to keep good
research records; Failing to maintain research data
for a reasonable period.

14. Guidelines
• American Psychological Association
▫ Five Principles for Research Ethics
• The Economic and Social Research Council, UK
▫ The Research Ethics Guidebook: a Resource for Social
Scientists
• Association of Social Anthropologists, UK
▫ Ethical Guidelines for Good Research Practice
• Australian Government
▫ Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research,
2018
• The Economic and Social Research Council, UK)
▫ ESRC Framework for Research Ethics 2015

15. Ethical Principals
• Honesty : Strive for honesty in all scientific
communications. Honestly report data, results,
methods and procedures, and publication status. Do
not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not
deceive colleagues, research sponsors, or the public.
• Objectivity: Strive to avoid bias in experimental
design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer
review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert
testimony, and other aspects of research where
objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or
minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal
or financial interests that may affect research.

16. Conti...
• Integrity: Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity;
strive for consistency of thought and action.
• Carefulness: Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and
critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Keep
good records of research activities, such as data collection, research
design, and correspondence with agencies or journals.
• Openness: Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to
criticism and new ideas.
• Confidentiality: Protect confidential communications, such as
papers or grants submitted for publication, personnel records, trade
or military secrets, and patient records.

17. Conti..
• Responsibility: An academic community should
uphold high standards of conduct in learning,
teaching and research by requiring shared
responsibility for promoting academic integrity
among all members of the community.
• Trust: An academic community should foster a
climate of mutual trust to encourage the free
exchange of ideas and enable all to reach their
highest potential.
• Fairness: An academic community should seek to
ensure fairness in institutional standards, practices
and procedures as well as fairness in interactions
between members of the community.

18. Conti..
• Legality: An academic community should
observe valid legal norms related to the conduct
and publication of research particularly in
relations to copyright, the intellectual property
rights of third parties, the terms and conditions
regulating access to research resources and the
laws of libel.
• Communication: An academic community
should seek to make the results of its research as
widely and as freely available as possible.

19. Ethics Committees
• COPE
• WAME

20. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a non-profit
organization whose stated mission is to define best practice in the
ethics of scholarly publishing and to assist editors and
publishers to achieve this.
• OPE was established in 1997 by a small group of medical journal
editors in the United Kingdom. Now it has over 12,000 members
worldwide, from all academic fields.
• Paid membership is open to editors of academic journals and others
interested in publication ethics.
• It also provides a forum for its members to discuss individual cases
(meeting four times a year in the UK and once a year in North America).
• COPE publishes a monthly newsletter and organises annual seminars.
• COPE has created an audit tool for members to measure compliance
with its 'Core Practices' and guidance in the form of flowcharts,
discussion documents, guidelines and eLearning modules.

21. Guidelines on Good Publication Practice
• COPE's first guidelines were developed after
discussion at the COPE meeting in April 1999 and
were published as Guidelines on Good
Publication Practice in the Annual Report in
1999.
• On their basis, the first edition of Code of Conduct
for Editors was published on the first COPE website
in November 2004, with an Editorial in the BMJ.
• The Code was replaced in 2017 with a simplified
description of expectations as COPE's Core
Practices, with links to COPE's detailed guidance.

22. Other Ethical Guidelines for Research
• Maintain high standards of work directed towards the constant
improvement of the quality of the study.
• Strive to preserve open channels of communication among research
workers, scholars, participating professionals, and other persons or
groups who might benefit from or apply research results.
• In planning, conducting, and reporting studies, does not
misrepresent the investigative competencies and abilities of
research workers or associates.
• Protect human subjects by taking all possible measures to respect
privacy and the confidentiality of personalised research data.
• Unless subjects have been fully informed of psychological or other
risks involved in a given project and have consented to serve as
research subjects in full realization of the possibility of stress or
discomfort, do not utilize techniques that pose threats to subjects’
well-being.

23. Conti...
• Let the studies nature and purpose determine the degree of condor
to be displayed regarding the exact purpose of a study; as a general
rule, however, follow the principle of full disclosure of intend to
subjects.
• Report procedures and findings as accurately as possible.
• Give credit to persons whose earlier research was especially useful
in the conduct of another project.
• Give credit to research associates who provided direct assistance.
• Acknowledge the aid of persons who served as consultants or helped
to plan, conduct, or report research activities.
• When applicable, acknowledge sources of financial grants and other
forms of direct or indirect aid.
• Always resist the temptation to accept premature explanations; have
the patience to wait for more verified data related to an observed but
heretofore inadequately explained phenomenon.
• Always place a high value on intellectual honesty”.

25. References
• Abraham P (2000). Duplicate and salami publications. Journal of Postgraduate
Medicine, 46: 67.
• Bickman, L., & Rog, D. (2009). Applied research design: A practical approach. In L.
Bickman& D. Rog (Eds.), Handbook of applied social research methods (2nd ed., pp.
3–43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Canterbury Christ Church University. (2014). An Introduction to Ethics Issues and
Principles in Research Involving Human Participants. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.canterbury.ac.uk/research and
consultancy/documents/introduction-to-ethics.pdf
• Dantzker, M. L., & Hunter, R. D. (200). Research Methods for Criminology and
Criminal Justice: A Primer. Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 21-30.
• Kamat, P. V. (n.d.). Research Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www3.nd.edu/~pkamat/pdf/ethics.pdf

26. Thank You 