ABSTRACT
During the past decade, scientists, laypeople, and politicians have become increasingly aware of the importance of ethics in scientific research. Several trends have contributed to these growing concerns. First, the press has covered stories on ethical issues raised by science, such as the United States (US) government’s secret experiments on human beings during the Cold War, genetic engineering, the Human Genome Project, studies on the genetic basis of intelligence, the cloning of human embryos and animals, and global warming. Second, scientists and government officials have investigated, documented, and adjudicated cases of ethical misconduct and ethically questionable conduct in many aspects of research, and a perceived lack of ethics in science has threatened the stability and integrity of research (PSRCR 1992, Hilts 1996, Hedges 1997). These cases include allegations of plagiarism, fraud, violations of the law, mismanagement of funds, exploitation of subordinates, violations of recombinant DNA regulations, discrimination, conflicts of interests, and problems with the FBI’s crime lab. Despite a growing body of evidence on unethical research, the data still indicate that the frequency of misconduct in science is quite low when compared to the frequency of misconduct in other professions, such as business, medicine, or law (PSRCR 1992).1
