Ethics
Psychologists take ethics fairly seriously, probably because they have a long history of not holding ethical considerations very highly (see this timeline - although not all of the issues are from psychology, psychology is overly represented). The APA updated its code of Conduct in 2010 and can be found here. Ethics refers to the rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research.
Ethical Principles
Although ethics are generally thought of in terms of morals, or distinguishing between right and wrong, here we think of ethics as defining the "norms for conduct" or between things we should and should not do. Dr. Resnik wrote a resource for researchers that you can find here and below are the summary of ethical principles to follow
- Honesty
- Objectivity
- Integrity
- Carefulness
- Openness
- Respect for Intellectual Property
- Confidentiality
- Responsible Publication
- Responsible Mentoring
- Respect for colleagues
- Social Responsibility
- Non-Discrimination
- Competence
- Legality
- Animal Care
- Human Subjects Protection
Further Reading
Everyone interested in pursing research should receive training in ethical approaches to research. The NIH offers a great training service for researchers interested in working with human subjects.
I also recommend taking a look at the following literature:
Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). American Psychological Association ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
Harris, B. (1988). Key words: A history of debriefing in social psychology. In J. Morawski (Ed.), The rise of experimentation in American psychology (pp. 188-212). New York: Oxford University Press.
Resnick, D.B. (2015). What is ethics in research & why is it important. Retrieved from http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/
Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1984). Applying Hamlet's question to the ethical conduct of research: A conceptual addendum. American Psychologist, 39(5), 561.
Committee on science, engineering, and public policy, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. (1995). On being a scientist: Responsible conduct in research. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Society for Neuroscience. (2000). Responsible conduct regarding scientific communication. The Journal of Neuroscience, 20(1),i-xiv.
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