Research Ethics

Each year, huge amounts of money are appropriated for academic research. In the United States, approximately $90 billion was appropriated for academic research in 2022, an increase from $255 million in 1953 (NCSES, 2022). This would be nearly $500 million per university if divided equally among all Research 1 (doctoral) universities in the United States. Of course, the money is not distributed equally and research is often completed at non-R1 universities, but it demonstrates the massive amounts of funding provided for academic scientific research outside of traditional research and development budgets at private companies. What is the rationale for this massive expenditure? What are the objectives and goals of academic scientific research? In our view, the primary objective of scientific research is two-fold: (a) to improve society and (b) to increase scientific knowledge and understanding. However, society is currently suffering a crisis of trust as researchers are failing to deliver on both of those goals. To better foster trust in science, ethics becomes a key principle that should drive all of research. This provides clear guidelines for researchers, participants, and ultimately sets a foundation whereby research findings can instill public trust and impact society. This chapter outlines ethical considerations through the following after a brief historical background: ethical practices in research origination, ethical practices in data collection and analysis, and ethical practices in writing.