ABSTRACT
Ethics and moral behaviour are about how humans should behave. Since society includes science, there are a number of times where ethical considerations are urgent. All branches of science are affected: just think of nuclear energy in physics, code breaking and security in mathematics and computing, plus a host of examples in the biological sciences, including medicine. In most areas of science, apart from some areas where there is specific legislation, there is a mixture of government organizations, scientific institutions and individual universities and departments which publish, disseminate and educationally promote guidelines on ethical and professional conduct. There are two distinct areas of misconduct in science, academic and scientific misconduct. The first is when an academic advantage is gained by cheating in exams, plagiarizing essays or any kind of falsification, in order to obtain higher grades or a better degree. This is normally dealt with by universities. The second is scientific misconduct, where a scientist deliberately distorts the research process.
