 What is Ethics?

- Ethics is like a guidebook of moral rules. These are like the do's and don'ts that help us tell right
from wrong. Ethics can be written or unwritten rules that guide how we and others should
behave. Research ethics are the rules that tell us how scientific and other research should be
done, and how the results should be shared. If we ignore research ethics, people won't trust our
research because they'll wonder if we did something wrong. A research ethics committee or
review board checks if the research is okay and protects the people taking part in it.

 Objectives of Research Ethics: Main objectives of Research Ethics are:-

 To keep people safe and protect their rights, dignity, and well-being when they take part
in research.
 To make sure that research helps individuals, groups, and society in general.
 To check if specific research activities and plans are morally sound. This includes
managing risks, respecting privacy, and ensuring people understand and agree to
participate.

 People/ Stake holders involved in research

There are different groups of people who play a role in research, whether it's about numbers,
words, or a mix of both. It's important to think about what's right and wrong when it comes to
each of them. The three main groups involved in research are:

1. The People in the Study/The Research Participants or Subjects: These are the individuals who
are part of the research, like the students in a school survey or patients in a medical study.
2. The People Who Provide Money/The Funding Body: This group gives the funding or money to
support the research, like a government agency or a company.
3. The Researchers: These are the people who plan and do the research, like the scientists,
doctors, or teachers who gather information and analyze it.

Ethical issues to consider concerning Research Participants

There are several important ethical things to think about when it comes to the participant of a
research activity/ people who are part of a research study. Some of them are as

- Don't ask unnecessary questions.

- Make sure they agree to take part and understand what's happening.
- Sometimes, it's good to give them something in return.
- Be careful with personal or private info.
- Don't do anything that could hurt them.
- Keep their info private and safe.
Ethical concerns for researchers
- Being fair and not showing favoritism.
- Not copying someone else's work.
- Choosing the right way to do the research.
- Telling the truth when reporting findings.
- Using the information in the right way.

Ethical concerns about the organization providing money/Ethical issues to

consider concerning the Funding/Sponsoring Body:
-They might want to decide how the research is done (Control over Methodology), what gets
published and what doesn't (Control over findings/content to publish).

- There's a worry they might use the research in a wrong or unfair way.

Principles of Research Ethics:

1. Honesty: Tell the truth to the people involved in the research, share the real findings, and be
truthful with everyone else connected to the research.

2. Integrity: Keep your promises, don't make false hopes, and be sincere in your work.

3. Objectivity: Don't let your personal feelings or preferences affect how you design experiments,
analyze data, or interpret results.

4. Beneficence (doing good): Research should only happen if it can benefit others in some way, like
adding knowledge or improving services. If it doesn't, it's not ethical.

5. Non-Maleficence/protecting the subjects (human): Don't harm people. Minimize any harm or risk
they might face. Respect their privacy, choices, and dignity.

6. Responsible Publication: Share your research honestly and don't publish the same thing more than
once.

7. Protecting Anonymity: This means keeping the identity of the participant secret. We don't reveal
their name, background, or anything that could show who they are.

8. Informed Consent: Informed consent is when a person agrees to participate in research after fully
understanding what it involves. They do this willingly and with knowledge of the research's
purpose, their role, and any potential benefits or risks.

9. Respect for Person/Respondent: This involves treating people with respect. It means
letting those who can make decisions for themselves do so (autonomy), and protecting
those who might have a harder time making decisions (like vulnerable or dependent
individuals).
 10. Confidentiality and Privacy: Privacy is about respecting someone's personal space,
emotions, and thoughts. Confidentiality is about keeping information about people
private. People should have the right to choose what information they share and what
they keep private in research.

11. Non-discrimination: Treat everyone fairly in research, regardless of factors like age,
gender, race, or ethnicity, which have nothing to do with the study.

12. Openness: Share research results and data with others, and be open to receiving
comments and feedback.

13. Carefulness and Respect for Intellectual Property: Be cautious to avoid mistakes and
biases, give credit to others for their ideas, and never copy their work (plagiarize).

14. Justice: Make sure that benefits and burdens in research are distributed fairly, treating
everyone equally and providing reasons for any differences based on accepted fairness
criteria.

15. Legality: Follow all relevant laws and rules from your institution and the government.

16. Skills and Competencies: Researchers should have the necessary skills and abilities to
conduct their research effectively.

Advantages of research ethics:

1. Building Trust: Research ethics help create trust between researchers and participants.

2. Protecting Dignity: They ensure that people's dignity is respected during research.

3. Accountability: Researchers are held responsible for their actions.

4. Promoting Values: Ethics promote important social and moral values.

5. Aiding Research Goals: They support research goals like understanding, truthfulness, and
avoiding mistakes.

6. Cooperative Values: Ethical standards uphold values crucial for teamwork, such as belief,
responsibility, respect, and fairness.
Ethical issues related to collecting data from secondary sources:
1. Plagiarism: Copying someone else's work without giving them credit.

2. Misrepresentation of Data: Presenting data in a way that distorts or misleads others.

3. Not Sharing Data Sources: Not telling where you got the data from, which can make it
hard to verify.

4. Secret Data Collection: Collecting data in a hidden or secretive way, which can be
unethical.

Plagiarism (किसी के विचारों, शब्‍दों या कृ ति को अपना बता कर प्रयोग करने की क्रिया)

Plagiarism means using someone else's work (ideas, words, or research) without asking for
permission or giving them credit. This includes anything that's been written or published, even if
it's not in a book. Plagiarism can happen on purpose or by accident. If it's done on purpose or
without care, it's against the rules and can lead to punishment.
The types of plagiarism explained in simpler terms:

1. Complete Plagiarism: Copying someone's entire work and claiming it as your own. It's
like stealing someone's ideas.
2. Direct Plagiarism: Copying a section of someone else's work word-for-word without
giving them credit. It's unethical and can lead to serious consequences.
3. Paraphrasing Plagiarism: Rewriting someone's ideas without giving them credit, even if
you use different words. The original idea stays the same.
4. Mosaic Plagiarism: Borrowing phrases from a source without using quotation marks or
changing words slightly while keeping the same structure and meaning. It's like mixing
and matching without proper credit.
5. Self Plagiarism: Submitting your own previous work as if it's new or mixing parts of your
old work without permission.
6. Accidental Plagiarism: Forgetting to cite sources, misquoting them, or unintentionally
rephrasing without giving credit.
7. Source-Based Plagiarism: Using inaccurate or non-existent sources, often by citing a
secondary source when you should use the primary one.
8. Inaccurate Plagiarism: Not giving proper credit to someone who contributed to a work, or
falsely claiming credit for work you didn't do.
9. Causal Plagiarism: Plagiarism that happens because of a lack of awareness or
understanding about plagiarism rules, like not knowing how to cite sources correctly.
Plagiarism Checker Tools