The following article argues that the research compliance system has some flaws that should be addressed, particularly with regard to excessive emphasis of and reliance upon formal regulations in research administration. Ethical formalism, understood here as the use of formal rules for the determination of behavior, is not an optimal perspective alone for the promotion of ethical research. The strict adherence to rules and regulations in research administration was formed by forces outside of the organizations' control and adopted by the professional organizations as final, thereby failing to generate the adaptive normative guidance needed to promote a flourishing, dynamic research environment. The analysis continues by offering some solutions for how the laws can be augmented through positive organizational practices and virtuous action (Cameron, Dutton & Quinn, 2003), and finally by finding people in organizations who stand as moral exemplars (Zagzebski, 2010) or leader-mentors (Cheatham, 2010; Gabriel, 2010) who bridge the gap between researchers, organizational leaders, and the regulations.