Research represents an essential component of the response to infectious disease outbreaks and to other public health emergencies, whether they are localised, of international concern, or global. Research conducted in such contexts also comes with particular ethics challenges, the awareness of which has significantly grown following the Ebola…

Objectives: This study investigated to what degree social work was represented in the position of chair of social-behavioral institutional review boards (IRBs) at very high research activity (VHRA) universities in the United States. Method: We collected data on IRB rosters for all 108 schools designated by the Carnegie Foundation as VHRAs in the…

As one approach to examining the way ethical decisions are made, we asked experts (i.e., ethicists, regulatory officials, and experienced researchers) and novices (i.e., inexperienced graduate students) to review a set of scenarios that depict some important ethical tensions in research. The method employed was "protocol analysis," a…

Knowledge gained through research contributes to the ability to provide worthwhile professional development. That knowledge is developed through the cooperation of practitioners, families, and children when researchers ask for their participation in studies. Many teachers have no idea how to be knowledgeable participants in an early childhood…

Administered a survey to 606 National Science Foundation-funded principal investigators and their institutions' representatives (n=91) to study responses to unethical research behavior. Scientists appear to perceive that they uphold their responsibility to respond through disclosures in the research community; administrators propose to report such…

The role of the research administrator in assuring that ethical judgments are made is discussed. Included are some of the ethical questions faced in providing advice and judgment on policies, procedures, and issues that conflict with each other and that may represent very different value systems. (JMF)

University administrators are expected by federal agencies to detect, investigate, and judge scientific fraud and misconduct on their campuses. Both National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health place primary responsibility on universities for spotting cases of scientific misconduct. (MLW)

A report on the integrity of higher education concludes that public confidence in higher education has eroded in recent years, due to both internal and external problems. The ethical behavior of educators can and should be called into question whenever breaches of conduct occur, such as: plagiarism by both teachers and students; exploitation by…