ABSTRACT
Researchers are expected to be honest and are accountable to the organization they work for/in, the source of funding, fellow researchers, participants in the research (subjects/respondents), the public at large, and to herself/himself – especially when we talk about ethics. The accountability, however, should not negatively affect the honesty of a researcher. If researchers happen to be teachers or thesis supervisors, they are accountable to the students, and in this case ethical adherence assumes an even greater importance. However, situations that come in conflict with ethical values may occur and may provoke individuals to ignore ethical conduct. Therefore, an ethical code of conduct is essential, much more for research, as research is the backbone of the creation and expansion of knowledge and innovations, and has implications on crucial aspects, (e.g. development, environment, health, and safety). In order to keep research activities useful and safe, ethics in research needs to be defined and followed. This chapter attempts to critically discuss issues of ethics in research, such as what practices in research are questionable, what ethical principles are to be followed at different stages of research, and what should guide the ethics-related decisions.
