Research Guides: Responsible Conduct of Research & Scholarly Activity: Codes of Ethics

Codes of Ethics

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Examples of Codes of Ethics, Ethical Standards, Codes of Conduct, and Standards of Ethical Conduct

In February 2019, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarly Activity (RCR) Committee endorsed the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) 2017 Code of Conduct (Section III, pages 5-10).

In endorsing the AGU Code of Conduct, the UNH RCR Committee is setting forth expectations for behavior that fosters and supports a safe, inclusive, and professional environment for faculty, staff, and students at UNH to pursue and conduct scholarly and research activities. [Where an AGU policy is cited in Section III that differs from UNH’s (such as the definition of scientific misconduct), UNH’s prevails, and where an AGU policy differs from that of an individual’s professional society if other than AGU, the latter prevails for that person.] (For reference, click here for UNH's policy on Misconduct in Scholarly Activity, and here for UNH's policy on Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment.)

The RCR Committee decided to endorse the Code of Conduct in lieu of developing institution-specific standards to promote a culture of research integrity at UNH. This was due to the general nature of the AGU Principles and Behaviors, and their broad applicability to a wide-range of disciplines and professions. Further, many faculty and students at UNH are AGU members and thus are expected to abide by the Code of Conduct. Endorsement of the AGU's Code of Conduct is an important component of the UNH RCR program's goals.

Professional Associations' Codes of Ethics

American Anthropological Association
"Anthropology—that most humanistic of sciences and scientific of humanities—is an irreducibly social enterprise. Among our goals are the dissemination of anthropological knowledge and its use to solve human problems. Anthropologists work in the widest variety of contexts studying all aspects of the human experience, and face myriad ethical quandaries inflected in different ways by the contexts in which they work and the kinds of issues they address. What is presented here is intended to reflect core principles shared across subfields and contexts of practice. These core principles are expressed as concise statements which can be easily remembered for use by anthropologists in their everyday professional lives. Each principle is accompanied by brief discussions placing that principle in a broader context, with more detailed examinations of how each affects or may be helpful to anthropologists in different subfields or work contexts. These examinations are accompanied by resources to assist anthropologists in tackling difficult ethical issues or the new situations that inevitably arise in the production of knowledge."
American Chemical Society
"The American Chemical Society serves the chemistry profession and society at large in many ways, among them by publishing journals which present the results of scientific and engineering research. Every editor of a Society journal has the responsibility to establish and maintain guidelines for selecting and accepting papers submitted to that journal. In the main, these guidelines derive from the Society’s definition of the scope of the journal and from the editor’s perception of standards of quality for scientific work and its presentation."
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
"The Code of Ethics of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) articulates a common set of values upon which education researchers build their professional and scientific work. The Code is intended to provide both the principles and the rules to cover professional situations encountered by education researchers. It has as its primary goal the welfare and protection of the individuals and groups with whom education researchers work. It also serves to educate education researchers, their students, and others who would benefit from understanding the ethical principles and standards that guide education researchers in their professional work. It is the individual responsibility of each education researcher to aspire to the highest possible standards of conduct in research, teaching, practice, and service."
American Geophysical Union
"AGU has established a set of guidelines for scientific integrity and professional ethics for the actions of the members and the governance of the union in its internal activities; in its public persona; and most importantly, in the research and peer review processes of its scientific publications, its communications and outreach, and its scientific meetings."
American Historical Association
"This Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct addresses dilemmas and concerns about the practice of history that historians have regularly brought to the American Historical Association seeking guidance and counsel. Some of the most important sections of this Statement address questions about employment that vary according to the different institutional settings in which historians perform their work. Others address forms of professional misconduct that are especially troubling to historians. And some seek to identify a core set of shared values that professional historians strive to honor in the course of their work."
American Physical Society Draft Statement on Ethics
"Physicists are citizens of the global community of science and share responsibility for its welfare. The success of the scientific enterprise rests upon two ethical pillars. The first of them is the obligation to tell the truth, which includes the prohibition of fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. The second is the obligation to treat people well, which includes the prohibition of abuse of power, and encouragement of the practice of fair and respectful relationships with colleagues, subordinates and students, and avoidance of bias. The American Physical Society has adopted new Guidelines for Professional Conduct that incorporate these values. Professional integrity in the conception, conduct, and communication of physics activities reflects not only on the reputations of individual physicists and their organizations, but also on the image and credibility of the physics profession in the eyes of scientific colleagues, government and the public. Physicists must strive for continual improvement in their standards of ethical behavior, and transmit improving practices with enthusiasm to future generations."
American Psychological Association (APA)
"Psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and professional knowledge of behavior and people's understanding of themselves and others and to the use of such knowledge to improve the condition of individuals, organizations and society. Psychologists respect and protect civil and human rights and the central importance of freedom of inquiry and expression in research, teaching, and publication. They strive to help the public in developing informed judgments and choices concerning human behavior. In doing so, they perform many roles, such as researcher, educator, diagnostician, therapist, supervisor, consultant, administrator, social interventionist and expert witness. This Ethics Code provides a common set of principles and standards upon which psychologists build their professional and scientific work. "
American Sociological Association (ASA)
"The American Sociological Association's (ASA's) Code of Ethics sets forth the principles and ethical standards that underlie sociologists' professional responsibilities and conduct. These principles and standards should be used as guidelines when examining everyday professional activities. They constitute normative statements for sociologists and provide guidance on issues that sociologists may encounter in their professional work."
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
"The NASW Code of Ethics offers a set of values, principles and standards to guide decision-making and everyday professional conduct of social workers. It is relevant to all social workers and social work students regardless of their specific functions or settings."

National/International Codes of Ethics/Conduct

Code of Ethics for Researchers ~ World Economic Forum
"The World Economic Forum Young Scientists Community — a group of leading researchers under the age of 40 from diverse fields and all regions of the world — came together to identify and reflect on the cross-cutting ethical issues they are faced with. This universal Code of Ethics is the result of their extensive reflections and consultations with researchers and ethicists. It serves as a tool to nurture a positive change of culture in the research world by not only guiding and shaping the behaviour of individuals but also the processes of the scientific institutions that are to facilitate this cultural shift."
Singapore Statement on Research Integrity
"The value and benefits of research are vitally dependent on the integrity of research. While there can be and are national and disciplinary differences in the way research is organized and conducted, there are also principles and professional responsibilities that are fundamental to the integrity of research wherever it is undertaken."
Montreal Statement on Research Integrity in Cross-Boundary Research Collaborations
"Research collaborations that cross national, institutional, disciplinary and sector boundaries are important to the
advancement of knowledge worldwide. Such collaborations present special challenges for the responsible conduct of research,
because they may involve substantial differences in regulatory and legal systems, organizational and funding structures, research
cultures, and approaches to training. It is critically important, therefore, that researchers be aware of and able to address such
differences, as well as issues related to integrity that might arise in cross-boundary research collaborations. Researchers should adhere
to the professional responsibilities set forth in the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity. In addition, the following responsibilities
are particularly relevant to collaborating partners at the individual and institutional levels and fundamental to the integrity of collaborative
research. Fostering the integrity of collaborative research is the responsibility of all individual and institutional partners."
European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
"A basic responsibility of the research community is to formulate the principles of research, to define the criteria for proper research behaviour, to maximise the quality and robustness of research, and to respond adequately to threats to, or violations of, research integrity. The primary purpose of this Code of Conduct is to help realise this responsibility and to serve the research community as a framework for self-regulation."
Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
"The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code) guides institutions and researchers in responsible research practices and promotes research integrity. It assists institutions in developing their own employee codes of conduct and procedures for the investigation of allegations of research misconduct by providing a comprehensive framework of acceptable academic standards."
Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
"The Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity provides the research community with a framework to promote commonly agreed principles and standards. The Code of Conduct aims to support a common understanding and common culture of research integrity in Denmark. Based on three basic principles of research integrity, i.e. honesty, transparency, and accountability, the Code presents a set of six commonly accepted standards on responsible conduct of research, a set of guidelines on teaching, training, and supervision, and, finally, a set of guidelines on how to respond to breaches of responsible conduct of research. Together, these elements are intended as guidance tools for researchers in their day-to-day work. Furthermore, the Code provides a common foundation upon which institutions are encouraged to further develop policies and procedures for promoting research integrity within all fields of research."
National Policy Statement on Ensuring Research Integrity in Ireland
"The aim of this statement is to commit the main organisations in Irish research to the highest standards of integrity in carrying out their research so that partners and other stakeholders, and the international research community may have full confidence in the Irish research system."
Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity
"....This new Code of Conduct ensures that the Netherlands keeps up with international developments regarding research integrity. I am proud that we have drawn up a Code of Conduct that applies to fundamental, applied, and practice-oriented research. This new Code of Conduct describes clear standards that researchers in many research organizations can apply to their daily practices”.