Modern efforts to protect individuals who participate in research projects began with the Nuremburg Code (PDF). This code was developed to serve as a standard for use during the Nuremberg Trials to judge the human experimentation by the Nazis. From that time, there were several other examples of atrocities that led to the development of the Declaration of Helsinki (PDF) in 1964 and later the Belmont Report (PDF) in 1979.
These atrocities and the concerns that arose from them prompted the federal government to take action to protect individuals who serve as participants in research studies. In 1971, the federal government (then the Department of Health, Education and Welfare) began to create the Institutional Review Board (IRB) system.
This system was designed to protect individuals by authorizing institutions to create IRBs to review all research proposals that are done under its auspices. As such, the Montclair State University IRB is authorized and charged with reviewing all research proposals that use human participants. This is true whether the project will be funded or not.
Selected ethics websites
Ethics and Bioethics: Academic and Educational Sites
- American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
- Ethics Updates (part of a larger ethics site maintained by Lawrence Hinman)
- ICH – International Conference on Harmonisation
- Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) and Applied Research Ethics
Professional organizations
| Organization | Website | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Academy of Management: | Academy of Management Code of Ethical Conduct | (SS) |
| ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Task Force | Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (Version 5.2) | (NS) |
| American Anthropological Association | AAA Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| American Association for the Advancement of Science has no formal code of ethics | AAAS Scientific Freedom, Responsibility and Law Program | (NS, SS) |
| American Association of Petroleum Geologists | AAPG Code of Ethics | (NS) |
| American Association of School Administrators | Statement of Ethics for School Administrators | (SS) |
| American Association of University Professors | AAUP Statement on Professional Ethics | (H, SS, NS) |
| American Chemical Society | ACS Professional Employment Guidelines | (NS) |
| American Counseling Association | ACA Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| American Educational Research Association | AERA Ethical Standards | (SS) |
| American Historical Association | AHA Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct | (H) |
| American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works | AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice | (H) |
| American Library Association | ALA Code of Ethics | (H) |
| American Mathematical Society | AMS Ethical Guidelines | (NS) |
| American Medical Association | AMA Code of Medical Ethics | (SS) |
| American Nurses Association | ANA Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| American Physical Society | APS Ethics and Values Statements | (NS) |
| American Psychological Association | Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct | (SS) |
| American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | ASBMB Code of Ethics | (NS) |
| American Society for Information Science and Technology | ASIS&T Professional Guidelines | (NS) |
| American Society of Newspaper Editors | ASNE Statement of Principles | (H) |
| American Sociological Association | ASA Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| American Statistical Association | AmStat Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice | (SS, NS) |
| Association for Computing Machinery | ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct | (NS) |
| Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology | IIT Codes of Ethics Online | (H, SS, NS) |
| Ecological Society of America | ESA Code of Ethics | (NS) |
| International Bar Association | IBA International Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| International Council of Nurses | ICN Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| Music Teachers National Association | MTNA Code of Ethics | (H) |
| National Association of Social Workers | NASW Code of Ethics | (SS) |
| Oral History Association | OHA Principles and Standards | (H, SS) |
| Professional Photographers of America | PPA Code of Ethics | (H) |
| Register of Professional Archaeologists | RPA Code of Conduct and Standard of Research Performance | (SS) |
| Society of American Archivists | A Code for Archivists with Commentary | (H) |
| Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Inc. | SABEW Code of Ethics | (H, SS) |
| Society of Professional Journalists | SPJ Code of Ethics | (H) |
| World Medical Association | WMA Ethics site |
(H) = Humanities
(SS) = Social Sciences
(NS) = Natural Sciences