Research conduct enjoys a higher degree of autonomy compared to other social activities and is accorded higher expectations by society. The general public has a respectful and trusting attitude towards professional researchers, and believes that the purpose of scientific research and development is to promote the well-being of humanity and society in general.
If a researcher engages in conduct that violates social norms or universal values, it will not only raise questions about the individual’s integrity but will also ruin his/her research career. From the societal perspective, findings produced by research that ignores ethics may cause the country to make erroneous policy decisions. In addition, other researchers will be misled, resulting in the perpetuation of erroneous research when it is used as the basis for future related academic developments. From the national perspective, researchers who violate research ethics not only undermine the international perceptions of Taiwan but also cause the international research community to have greater doubts about the country’s research findings. Considering the uniqueness and importance of research work and the impacts of ethical violations, it is urgent and necessary to establish the norms of research ethics.
In the literal sense, the term can be defined from the two aspects of “research” and “ethics.” The former generally refers to the process of systematically using scientific methods to plan, design, and collect data for analysis and interpretation. The purpose is to seek answers to specific questions. The latter refers to the objective guidelines and norms that individuals should follow for their subjective conduct in a particular sociohistorical context （張作為，2007）. In summary, ethics involve using a rational attitude to explore human behaviors and generalizing universally applicable norms to guide and restrain those behaviors.
Research ethics is the code of conduct with which researchers must comply when conducting research work, as well as the standards used to evaluate whether researchers’ conduct is consistent with the objective principles of society （王玉麟，2004）. Scholars have defined the scope of discussion for ethical issues in research to include researchers’ morality, decision-making, credibility, and honesty, their proper planning and use of research funding without incurring social costs, and proper versus inappropriate research conduct （廖文峯，2011）. All personnel who engage in research work are subject to these norms, including college and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, college professors, and researchers in private research institutions. Since the topic of ethics involves discussions on the legitimacy of research conduct, researchers should constantly query whether their research conduct is proper and aligned with ethical norms to maintain compliance.
Taking academic research conducted within colleges as an example, the relationship between the connotations of related ethical issues is shown in the following figure ： ：
- Academic ethics on campus：This refers to all ethical issues related to academic activities in colleges. It is the broadest in scope, and includes general ethical conduct for faculty and students on campus.
- Research ethics： This refers to ethical issues that may be involved during the research process. Its connotations include research ethics involving human participants and experimental animals, and responsible research conduct.
- Human Research Ethics (HRE):： This is a narrower definition of research ethics and generally refers to ethical issues that may be encountered during research activities involving the participation of human subjects. One type is the investigation, collection, and use of personal, behavioral, psychological, or cultural data related to human individuals or groups; another type is human trials and biomedical experiments involving human subjects and related issues. The former is typically reviewed by an ethics committee for research on behavioral and social sciences; the latter can be conducted only after the review and subsequent approval by an ethics committee for biomedical research, commonly known as an institutional review board (IRB). The core issue in this category of ethical norms is ensuring the utmost protection of subjects’ rights and the physical and mental health of human participants and subjects while the research is being carried out.
- Animal Research and Ethics (ARE):： The core issue for this category is the identification of ways to avoid the infliction of harm and suffering on animals during experiments as much as possible, and ensure the humane treatment of experimental animals. Research plans that involve experimental animals are generally referred to as a care committee for experimental animals, which carries out the relevant ethical review before the experiments are conducted.
- Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR):：For this section, the ethical issues focus on researchers’ conduct. This includes the avoidance of acts of plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification (alteration) of research materials and findings, making inappropriate claims of authorship, and academic publications, as well as interfering with peer-review evaluation. These practices emphasize integrity in scientific research. Once a violation is suspected, the case is usually referred to and dealt with by the academic ethics committee of the overseeing academic or research institution.
The three core connotations of research ethics—HRE, ARE, and RCR—are the main developmental axes for this series of courses.