Work

Ethical Virtues in Scientific Research

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Most approaches to promoting integrity in research are principle-based in that they portray ethical conduct as consisting of adherence to ethical rules, duties, or responsibilities. Bruce MacFarlane has recently criticized the principle-based approach to promoting integrity in research and offered a virtue-based alternative. MacFarlane argues that principle-based approaches do not provide adequate guidance for ethical decision-making and are not very useful in moral education. In this article, I examine and critique MacFarlane's defense of the virtue-based approach. I argue that virtue-based and principle-based approaches to ethics are complementary and that they both can help promote research integrity.

Source: Accountability in Research

DOI: 10.1080/08989621.2012.728908

Author: David B. Resnik

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Academic integrity and plagiarism

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Award: Ethical, social, and legal issues in environmental health research