Academic Research Ethics & Rules Simplified for All

• Nov 07, 2024
• 7 min read

• Tags: Academic Research, Research, Research Paper

Rules of ethical conduct are embedded in every aspect of our life. Ethical considerations range from personal behavior and social conduct to professional conduct in the workplace. Likewise, ethics is paramount in academic research for a variety of purposes, including scientific integrity and the need to maintain the integrity of participants. 

Many overseeing organizations (such as the American Psychological Association) have set out a code of ethics for academic research. This blog explores all essential rules and principles researchers must follow while conducting research. 

Let’s quickly understand the importance of ethics. 

Why do ethics matter?

For the same reason that doctors are required to take the Hippocratic oath. But let’s establish once and for all that ethics cannot be ignored.

Research ethics ensure that all scientific findings are accurate so that the results are reliable. 

They are also important for protecting the people involved in research. Furthermore, violating ethical guidelines can result in severe penalties, including fines, lawsuits, and loss of funding. 

It can also damage your reputation. Unethical research practices aren’t justified, even if they’re for a good cause. 

This is why all academic institutions have a specific process to get the research approved. Let’s explore this in the next section! 

Get clearance for your research paper

If applicable to your institution, your research proposal must be accepted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). This board contains a committee of experts who review this proposal. 

So what is their goal? To put it simply, their aim is to ensure your research complies with your institution’s rules and regulations. 

They review all aspects of the proposal, including the research purpose, methods, participation procedures, and ethical considerations. If they approve your proposal, start researching using the methods specified in the research proposal. Alternatively, if it is rejected, submit a revised proposal for approval. 

Now let’s learn crucial ethical principles in qualitative research. 

Qualitative research

A lot of social science research, such as case studies, ethnography, and interviews requires the cooperation of other individuals to make sure that your research is valid and relevant. Here’s what you should remember if you have participants in your study. 

CONSENT MATTERS. Include participants in your study only if they agree voluntarily. Also, ensure that the participants are aware of the research purpose, advantages, disadvantages, and risks before it begins. 

You must also inform them of the research study’s duration. With this, you should also provide details about your supervisor and the institution’s approval. This may seem evident, but it’s easy to get carried away when you have a devil of a deadline breathing down your neck. 

Verbal consent matters, but also prepare a consent form that has your participants’ signatures as well as yours before you commence your interaction. 

Take extra precautions for vulnerable individuals requiring additional support or protection. This includes people who are pregnant, have scarce money, aren’t educated, speak a different language, or have health and cognitive problems, 

For example, if participants have trouble reading, you should explain everything verbally. Additionally, if the participant speaks a different language, you must translate all research details to ensure they understand. Furthermore, if your participants are children, get consent from their parents as well. 

Moreover, respect the boundaries of your participants. Allow them an opportunity to express issues/discomfort throughout the process of your interaction. If a participant wants to withdraw from your project in its midst, comply with them. The same applies if they prefer to remain anonymous.

Also, protect participants from all kinds of harm (physical, psychological, and social). And always, always, ensure that you maintain their confidentiality and integrity. That onus is on you, never forget that. 

Once you have received all your data, strive to write about your findings without compromising on the information that your participants have given you. Do not fabricate or misuse information.

And lastly, once you are done writing (or even in the process), keep your participants in the loop: run drafts by them, and don’t forget to thank them in your acknowledgments section. 

Note: While we’re on the topic of consent, realize that there are further complications to consider regarding the use of animals in research. Bioethics is a highly intricate subdiscipline of ethics – in terms of legal, social, and ethical implications – so we’ve chosen to merely point out that such complications exist. This mostly pertains to medicine and biology-related fields, so we’ll leave it to the experts. For more info, you can start reading here.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research primarily involves data analysis through statistics and is usually used within mathematics and the hard sciences. There are several drawbacks to quantitative analysis as well – that also engender ethical concerns.

If you’re using stats in social sciences, you cannot use them in isolation. Sampling must be accompanied by qualitative methods. Or at least have the decency to provide a disclaimer that it is a sample.

That brings me to my next point. Don’t assume anything. Greatness is not produced if your variables are taken for granted. It might be tempting to exaggerate your findings but don’t do it. 

For yourself, and for the largess of your discipline.

Don’t misrepresent or be selective about your data. To pick and choose your data just to prove your hypothesis is considered fraudulent in academics. This is called “p-hacking” (also known as data dredging or inflation bias) and dilutes your scientific credibility marginally. 

To get all the important data about your topic, use the best academic research resources. This includes PubMed Central, Library of Congress, Research Gate, Google Scholar, etc. 

The cool thing is that there have been strides within research methodology to strive for a more holistic approach to quantitative analysis. You might want to check out the Bayesian inference for more info on that.

Ethics of academic research – general rules

1. Substantiate all of your claims. You cannot fail to provide evidence for anything you say – be it in the form of case studies, statistical evidence, etc.

2. Don’t fudge your data. What I mean to say is, don’t cheat by adding fake information or removing real information to make your research look better. 

3. Don’t exaggerate your results just so you can get a slightly higher grade. Null hypotheses are perfectly accepted in research.

4. If you are using other people in your research, take their consent and continue to respect their boundaries throughout the research process.

5. If your university has an internal ethics committee (usually, they do), consult them. If you’re using humans/animals as part of your research, or you’re writing about sensitive topics, get your project cleared by them before you proceed.

6. Don’t plagiarize. If you’re using someone else’s ideas and content, give them credit by citing them in your research paper. On the other hand, if you’re using your own previously written materials, cite them to maintain research integrity.  

Other ethical considerations in research 

The following are some other important ethical principles in academic research: 

1. Ensuring diverse representation in the study population is necessary for unbiased, objective research.

2. Consider and minimize the environmental impact of any research and promote sustainable research practices.

3. Be open about your methods, findings, and potential conflicts of interest to promote trust and accountability in science.

4. Address ethical concerns related to the use of technologies in research, such as privacy issues in digital data collection or the implications of artificial intelligence in data analysis.

5. Respect diverse cultural norms and treat collaborators, competitors, and others with respect

6. Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research.

7. When conducting research on human subjects, minimize risks and maximize benefits. This is one of the important ethics of research mentioned in the Belmont report for protecting human subjects in research. 

Seven practical strategies to prevent academic ethics violations

Here are 7 useful strategies to ensure academic research ethics are followed: 

1. Implement double consent: Have participants sign consent forms at the beginning and end of a study.

2. Use anonymization techniques: Remove identifying information from data and use codes instead of names.

3. Secure data storage: Use encrypted, password-protected storage for sensitive participant information.

4. Use simple language in consent forms: Ensure participants can easily understand what they’re agreeing to.

5. Limit access: Provide access to confidential data only to specific individuals if required. 

6. Use plagiarism checkers: Utilize plagiarism checkers provided by Grammarly, QuillBot, PlagiarismDetection.net, etc. 

7. Use citation generators and reference management software: Citation Machine, Zotero, Mendeley, EasyBib, and BibMe are some useful tools you can use. 

Examples of ethical violations and their consequences 

The following are simple examples of violations of research ethics: 

1. Plagiarism 

John submits an essay for a history class that is almost entirely copied from a website, with only minor changes to the essay’s wording. The student has not cited the website as an in-text citation or on the reference page. This is a serious academic offense, and the student could face consequences such as a failing grade, suspension, or even expulsion.

2. Data falsification 

Ann fabricates data for a lab report in order to get a better grade. She only takes the data that supports the desired outcome, leaving out data that contradicts the hypothesis. She also changes many data statistics to support the desired outcome. 

The above examples show the importance of ethical considerations in research. These rules and guidelines are invisible shields protecting both researchers and participants. You can follow these guidelines to ensure that the search for answers doesn’t cause any problems. 

PaperTrue supports ethical principles by verifying citations and checking for plagiarism. Our expert team also offers specialized research paper editing services, enhancing language quality to meet academic standards.

Want to learn more about what is academic research and academic writing? Here are some useful resources for you: 

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Priya

Priya has a talent for academic research and enjoys simplifying complex topics. When she's not helping students improve their writing, she can be seen reading poetry, playing the harmonium, or learning classical dance.