Surbhi Khurana

Subject: English

Research Ethics
Ethics are the set of rules that determine our behavior in the society. They are an
internal system of rules that tell us what is right and wrong. Human beings are
naturally free creatures; it is only through the system of ethics and moral code
combined with laws that our behavior is checked and controlled. Each organization
has a governing set of ethics designed for its smooth functioning. These systems of
moral code along with other rules and regulations maintain an atmosphere of
discipline in the organization. An ethical person naturally becomes a good worker
as he considers his moral duty to perform all his tasks diligently without indulging
in dishonest and false means.

Research ethics are the set of ethical guidelines that guides us on how research
should be conducted and disseminated. Research ethics govern the standards of
conduct for scientific researchers .It is the guideline for responsibly conducting the
research. Research is quite a tricky task that involves distinctive and multifaceted
ethical, legitimate, communal and administrative concerns.

An ethical research would mean that through the whole journey of research from
topic selection to thesis submission, certain values and standards are followed
which ensure the final outcome is not only novel but also adheres to strict ethical
standards. Integrity of research is maintained if the research keeps the following
points in mind . Firstly, it is of utmost importance that the topic which one selects
should not be exhausted and researched vividly. The whole purpose of research is
to find something new or to adding to the existing stock of knowledge so that the
field is enriched with new findings and perspectives. Even if the researcher is
taking a well versed topic on which a large amount of work has already been done,
he has to make sure that his contribution should be fruitful for the desired field
and also to the future researchers. So ethically, one should try to choose a topic that
can positively contribute to the existing corpus and also serve as a value addition to
the branch of knowledge chosen.
Secondly , it is quite a common and unfortunate practice to take cues from other
researcher’s work and quoting it like your own. Researchers try to take points
directly from other relatable thesis and research papers. Sometimes the idea are
plainly copied and summarized in a clever way so that the plagiarism detector
cannot detect it. Such malpractices not only hamper the quality of your research
but are also quite unethical. Researchers must ensure that they should give the
credit where its due and also they must try to put their own perspective and
viewpoint to their work. References from other people are just supplementing and
reaffirming the point that you are putting across.

Thirdly the research which is Quantitative in nature involves human beings as

respondents whose interviews and other information has to be collected in the most
unbiased and authentic way. In this regard researches must take due permission
before filling the data. Mishandling the data, faking numbers and revealing
sensitive information is quite a common dereliction seen in researchers. In order to
work ethically and with integrity, one must treat the respondents with honesty and
complete transparency. Loopholes made at this point go a long way in making your
research dishonest and insincere.

In conclusion we can infer that a comprehensive and well-rounded research is the

one in which along with all the required rules and regulations, complete ethical
standards are also maintained as well.