Introduction:
The scientific progress in science requires values and ethics in the form of a charter and a guide to be a reference, and a basis for the faculty staff members to be honest with one's conclusion. Indeed, this is one of the inevitable necessities required for the success of university institutions. In fact, brilliant scientists cannot do without several ethics and values of which are: credibility; while since honesty is known to be the base of success, scientific success is that of (the base) of the progress of nations, it has been clearly established that hardworking, transparency, credibility and good morals are exactly what our nation needs from all of the creative scientists.
Besides, scientific research is deemed as one of the most important duties assigned to universities through their scientific departments, research centers and specialized laboratories. Moreover, in addition to their role in the rehabilitation of scientific cadres for the advancement of society, universities are -also- concerned with diagnosing the points of imbalances and causes of problems, and thus developing ways and plans to study them and find successful solutions for them.
As the theories of scientific research develop over years, they have become a common practice, ethics, ritual and methodology that researchers follow, develop, and establish until being part of their personal ethics and behaviors, noting that ignoring any of them will be considered as a fatal mistake that the research commits.
This is compounded by the width of scientific research areas and the fields that science has never covered. It might now be confirmed that what society had previously considered as science fiction is now within reach, and thus, society has to deal with it through new values and controls.
Also, the scientific research globalism has liberated science from any geographical boundaries, and has become a landmark of modern scientific research; since many scientists from different countries participate in the same scientific research for the purpose of combining efforts, shortening time, and assessing the targeted outcomes according to the different circumstances of societies. Such globalism requires one agreement or a minimum agreement on the disciplines and values governing the scientific research throughout several countries. Scientific research is no longer an individual field of scholarly endeavor, but it has become the investment of the whole society that is expected to be beneficial and profitable, either upon the material or related to human resources for the preparation of cadres capable of conducting such scientific research. Community happens to benefit from scientific research, thus, it has become its duty to play a positive role in directing scientific research to what serves its interests and what consists with its values, amidst the development of the proper controls.
Scholars have made it clear that every science has its own ethics and rules; therefore, if Islam has sublimed the values of humanity through the preservation of all the qualities promised, the primary ethic shall be that of the scholars' sense of responsibility towards this humanity while refraining from destroying what God has built.
It is also worth noting that, the access to the truth through scientific research is not an easy or simple mission, because the conflict of knowledge production and the preservation of the freedoms of individuals are major struggles requiring the fulfillment of the necessary balance between the two sides without affecting each other. This is especially important if we became aware that scientific research is based on the values and ethics that researchers should be committed to and responsible for when conducting any scientific research.
Rather, the ignorance of the ethics of the scientific research by any researchers will cause him/her– then – to destroy the scientific and moral value of the research work. It is essential that the researcher keeps the privacy, dignity or course of progress of his/her colleagues; noting that the politicization of the research process contradicts the ethics of scientific research.
Concepts and Ethics of Scientific Research
Firstly: Concept of Scientific Research
Scientific research is defined as:
• Procedural behavior conscious of the miscellaneous process of planning and implementation to obtain the desired results.
• It is a systematic human behavior aimed at investigating the accuracy of the information, hypothesis or explanation of the situation or phenomenon, comprehension of the causes, and development of the proper mechanisms required for addressing them, or finding a successful solution to a specific problem or social behavior that concerns both individuals and society.
• The research is a process performed by the researcher in order to investigate the facts that are related to a particular problem called (the subject of the research) through following a systemic scientific method called (the research methodology), aiming at finding suitable solutions or for reaching the results that are known to be valid for the process of the generalization of these results on similar problems called (the research results).
Secondly: Concept of Ethics:
Definition of " Ethical commitment":-
"It is the teacher's awareness of the size and type of the ethical consequences of his/her actions to create a moral environment suitable for the moral obligation and the development of this ethical commitment, both at the levels of individual or group".
Definition of Ethics:-
"It is what is to be done and - more specifically- known to determine the correct and wrong actions".
Definition of Ethics of Profession:-
"A set of formal and informal standards of behaviors used by the faculty staff members as a guide to their behavior in the course of their performance, the administration, and the whole community to judge their commitment".
Sources of Ethical principles:-
Ethical sources are derived from two main sources:
The First Source:-
The basic human values deduced from the heavenly religions.
The Second Source:-
The society's prevailing culture, what others do, and what a faculty staff member observes in the behavior of others (especially those who occupy leading positions) as it will – undoubtedly- be a yardstick for judging the entire possible or rejected behavioral alternatives.
The Importance of " Ethical commitment":-
• The commitment of the faculty's staff members to follow ethics in their work -positively- contributes to the advancement of the scientific level, as justice prevails and society members enjoy equal opportunities, alongside with decreasing the levels of the unfair practices, especially in terms of the promotions', incentives' and rewards' procedures, etc.…..
• The commitment of all to the ethics of work contributes to the creation of an environment that is suitable for fair competition among the members of the faculty in terms of scientific research, and increases the staff members' scientific production of books and scientific references, what –positively- influences the progress of the students' academic levels (as being the faculty's outputs), and offers several opportunities for the faculty to outperform and acquire the advantage of being a competitive institution through graduating professional students who fulfill the requirements of the labor market, enjoy the moral decency and scientific qualifications, and adhere to the charters of ethics, both at the regional or global level.
• The application of the mechanisms of the controls and ethics related to the ethical charter supports the sense of satisfaction and credibility regarding the integrity and transparency of the academic management and leadership, and contributes to spreading the senses of self-confidence, stability, and satisfaction among everyone, as long as justice and law are fulfilled in the entire transactions; since ethics is known to be a necessity of civilized life and a prerequisite for the organization of the university community and especially in Scientific Research.
Why do we care for ethics in the university?
The university is deemed as a moral organization due to its concern with the scientific and moral construction of the students. However, it is illogical that the university succeeds in graduating cadres and conducting researches without insuring that the morals of its staff and students adhere to the ethical manners.
Therefore, we find out that the adherence to ethics in the university contributes to:
• Improving the university community as a whole.
• Spreading a common sense of social satisfaction.
• Spreading sense of confidence among professors and the students as a result of adhering to the ethics of efficient work.
• Safeguarding the university against great risks.
• Supporting a number of other programs such as (Comprehensive Quality Assurance Programs, Strategic Planning Programs, and Human Development Program).
• Driving the involved parties to resource to the ethically committed authorities; while stressing on the fact that the fair and ethical practices eliminate the non-ethical practices out of the field of work.
• Creating an environment that is suitable for teamwork, which increases the motivation for achieving the necessary progress in the field of scientific research.
• Upholding the faculties' keenness on the existence of an ethical charter to be utilized as a guide for everyone when there are differences about a certain behavior.
The Four -Agreed Upon- Ethical Principles in Scientific Research:
There are four main ethical principles that must be adhered to when conducting a scientific research, these principles include without limiting to the following:
1. Respecting other independent individuals and protecting those who are incapable of to achieving their self-independence.
2. Attaining the targeted benefit which includes the duty of goodness.
3. Refraining from causing or committing not to cause harm.
4. Applying Justice - which is the last principle- that is known as what law claims to achieve in the first place, however, law has been applied - historically and in modern times- not only for the protection of justice, but for protecting the respect of individuals and prevent the occurrence of harm as well.
The Ethical Controls adopted for the Implementation of the Scientific Research:
The process of scientific research passes through several stages prior to turning the research from the ideas' phase to the publishing and implementation phase; and these steps are as following:
1. Selection of the research topic.
2. Evaluation of the scientific research.
3. Implementation the research.
4. Approval of the research, dissemination of its information, and applying its results in the practical application.
In all these steps, the ethical aspects of the scientific research must be followed. Nevertheless, it is not enough to follow these aspects in a stage of the scientific research and ignore them in another one. Otherwise, the research will be deemed as unethical. The research might be designed upon ethical basis, but when being implemented, it may not follow the controls that were developed. In such cases, the research will be deemed as unethical. Moreover, the ethical research may become unethical in its idea, design, and implementation in case the researcher does not follow the moral controls when publishing the research report, or use its findings in the practical application.
There are several mistakes that may be made by the researcher during the various stages of the scientific research procedures:
Firstly: Selection of Research Problem:
• The random selection of the topic or the problem of the scientific research, once it crosses the researcher's mind, or if being recommended for the researcher, without taking into consideration its consistency with the researcher's potentials and future ambitions may lead to conduct researches that are of no scientific value. The researcher should review several scientific journals, internet, bulletins and periodicals in his/her field of specialization so that s/he can reach a research idea that does not conflict with the ethical, cultural and religious values of the society, while deepening his/her review of the intellectual heritage of the topic.
• The selection of unmeasured hypotheses or questions, leads to the intentional / unintentional omission of important factors or aspects of the research.
• Negligence in developing possible plan results; causing the loss of an organized tool directed to the responsibilities scheduled to reach for the desired solutions to the problem of research.
Secondly: Mistakes of Reviewing Prior Studies and Research (related to the topic):
• Fast review of the previously conducted studies and researches, may lead the researcher to skip important information related to the research results, or to conduct a research for a problem that has been already studied.
• Non-conduct of adequate studies through reviewing more relevant researches, and significant reliance on secondary resources, or just research abstracts.
• Focus on the results of the previously conducted studies without comprehending their methodologies, measurements, and styles of data processing may lead the researcher to lose some information, or ideas addressing the tools, procedures and methods of his / her research.
• Lack of accuracy or error in writing and mentioning the names of the researchers who have prepared previous studies and researches, or omission of the years of preparation, noting that such kinds of mistakes are included in the ethics of the scientific research, as the researcher should not extract any idea or result without referring to the reference from which it has been quoted or extracted in order to confirm its credibility.
Thirdly: Methodological Errors:-
• The negligence in proposing an integrated methodology that takes all the steps of the scientific research and the requirements of Implementation, tools, measurements, statistical processing and results interpretation into consideration, (which may lead to the slow completion of the research and confusion of its operations or deviation from the objective for which it (the research) is conducted).
• Negligence in providing an accurate characterization of the research topics; leading to selecting samples and data that do not fully represent the problem of research.
• Usage of a small number of research samples, resulting in extracting data having no scientific or practical values in general.
• Usage of tools, measurements, and methods that are not suitable for the sample of the research, in addition to the researcher's lack of knowledge about the methods of utilization of the tools of measurement, which leads to reach to inaccurate results.
Fourthly: Data Collection Mistakes:-
• The lack of harmony among the researcher and the members of the samples' individuals may directly affect the validity of the procedures followed for the implementation of the research, the performance of the necessary measurements, and the process of obtaining true and accurate data.
• The researcher may seek to modify his/her research environment or factors in order to facilitate obtaining the required data, thus distorting the nature of reaching these results in the form that the research basically intended.
• The usage of tools that are not valid for measurement, which gives wrong results or the usage of tools that cannot be operated by the researcher in the right way because of lack of any scientific or functional efficiency, thus, the results that have been reached to will be considered as inaccurate due to their non- correspondence to the ethics of scientific research.
Fifthly: Statistical Analysis Mistakes:
• Only reporting facts without merging them together, in addition to formulating illogical conclusions.
• Illogical and incomplete interpretation of the results, or as per the personal desire of the researcher, leading to the loss of the credibility of the research in achieving the goal for which it was conducted.
Sixthly: Mistakes in Presenting and Interpreting Research Results:
• Researcher's negligence in collecting ideas, data, and remarks that are available during the implementation of the procedures, leading him/her to lose them all. Thus, their urgent need will become clearer during the presentation and interpretation of the research results.
• The research must be ethical in its design and the interpretation of its results, (The number of the samples shall be sufficient for reaching accurate results to be statistically processed, tools and devices that have been selected shall be accurate, the scientific references shall be written with a great credibility ... etc.). Moreover, no unjustifiable results are to be accepted.
• Presentation of a paragraph or a chapter of the previously conducted studies and researches in dispersed formats and sentences, adding to providing information that happens to be of no importance –at several times- without combining them together in a logical and useful manner in relation to the subject of the research.
• The frequent use of literal quotes without mentioning the real author-to, whom the quoted information is attributed- in contradiction to the intellectual property rights leading to subject the researcher to legal liability.
• The usage of inaccurate and incoherent phrases, sentences and paragraphs when interpreting and analyzing the research results or extracting appropriate results or negligence in writing the scientific references and omitting one of the authors, on the contrary to the scientific research ethics.
• Total or partial omission of one or more research related descriptions, as might be observed during the presentation of the research problem, objectives, questions and hypothesis, or when writing the research methodology scientifically and statistically or analyzing and interpreting the collected data, and extracting appropriate conclusions or defining the research expressions.
Seventhly :Mistakes in Research Evaluation:-
• The lack of any well-considered criteria for judging the research.
• Evaluation of the research through non-specialists in the field of specialization.
• Subjecting the research evaluation to personal desires and courtesies.
• Responsibility for the Commitment to the Ethics and Regulations of the Scientific Research
Firstly:- The Scientific Researcher:
The researcher shall assume the full responsibility of his / her research, so, s/he should be well trained to be aware of the entire ethical guidelines of the research.
Secondly: -The Scientific Research Institutions:
The Scientific research institution is responsible for the ethical aspects of research; it should review all the planned researches, accept or decline them depending on ethical basis through the competent Ethics Committees, and provide guidance and advice for researchers who are conducting researches. These committees should be completely independent from the researchers through Ethics Committees prior to conducting any research.
Thirdly: Scientific Journal's Editors:
Any research that does not meet the research ethics must not be accepted or even published, noting that a certificate indicating the approval of the research by the Ethics Committee of the University the scientific must be attached with the report.
Fourthly: Funding Agencies and Organizations:
Scientific researches shouldn't be funded by any international or national agency unless such agency –clearly- illustrates the ethical aspects of the research; guarantees the proper control of the ethical principles of the research, and obtains the prior approval of the Ethics Committees.
Ethics of the Scientific Researcher:
Researchers and scientists or scholars shall be entrusted to his/her knowledge which is a gift from God to benefit people not to benefit him/her in person, while this entails many responsibilities. The researcher should conduct researches to achieve a certain objective for the purpose of benefiting people; otherwise the research becomes futile and useless in case of being conducted for research purposes only or for scientific luxury, and this is considered to be a waste of resources. Thus, the researcher should be honest while extracting or quoting from others, and never underestimates the searches conducted by other researchers in the same field of specialization. Also, his/her critical analysis should be honest and objective when auditing the other researchers' scientific efforts, while refraining from showing any disgrace and derogation.
The researcher also should be honest regarding the mechanisms of the research on top of which are: questionnaires or data collection and statistical processing or any other processes s/he has conducted to present and interpret the findings that have been reached to. The researcher should not be biased to his/her personal preferences within the research's stages, because those findings might be taken into consideration by others to make decisions or achieve assignments related to individuals' lives. Consequently, others will assume the responsibility for these mistakes.
Moreover, financial objectives should not be the only reason for which the scientific research was conducted; rather, it will be no harm, if the distinguished scientific efforts are financially rewarded by the university or the institutions sponsoring the research.
The conditions that all faculties are going through motivate us to commit to ethics and methods of the scientific research, because we are in a need for the findings of that research. Moreover, the tough conditions within which the research was conducted shall never be considered as an excuse for ignoring or neglecting the ethics and methods of conducting a professional scientific research, as when the research is approved, published, and read by the other future generations of researchers, this will never mean that the research was published or even accomplished within hard conditions but it will be subjected to assessment, correction, and criticism without taking those excuses into consideration. Also, promotions should not be one of the scientific research's objectives, as when the researcher is conducting a research just for the purpose of getting promoted, s/he will deviate from the scientific research's objectives, adding to being out of the context of the scientific research. So, researchers have to forget about the promotion matter and focus only on community services through their scientific research efforts, then, therefore, they will be granted an honorary scientific promotion.
Ethics of scientific researchers require respect for others' rights, opinions, and dignities, whether or not they are other researchers or participants or targeted by the research. It is also worth mentioning that the principals of the scientific research's ethics adopt the following values "Positive Work" and "Avoidance of Harm, thus, both values should be the pillars of ethical consideration during the search process.
There are some considerations that are related to the ethical behavior of the scientific researcher as following:
Firstly: credibility:
The findings of the research should be quoted accurately and the researcher has to be honest regarding whatever s/he quotes without attempting to convey or quote any incomplete information depending on what s/he thinks. Also, such researcher should not attempt to add any data depending on the findings of theories.
Secondly: Experience:
The work conducted by the researcher should be adequate to his/her experience, training, and field work preparations, since the competent researcher should accurately understand the theories prior to the application of the concepts or procedures.
Thirdly: Safety:
The researcher should not expose himself/herself to any physical or ethical risks; this could be done through the consideration of the precautionary procedures when conducting experiments. Also, s/he should not expose research samples' individuals to any physical or psychological hazards or risks through the application of the research procedures.
Fourthly: Trust:
The researcher should confirm the existence of robust mutual trust among him/her and the samples' individuals -whom s/he is dealing with- in order to ensure their constant cooperation until completing the research procedures.
Fifthly: Approval:
The researcher has to obtain the prior necessary approvals of the sample's individuals to voluntary participate in performing the research procedures. Besides, should the sample's individuals be off the legal age; the competent researcher has to have their parents' approvals to participate in implementing the research procedures.
Sixthly: Withdrawal:
Any member of the sample's individuals has the right to withdraw from continuing the implementation of the research procedures for his / her own personal reasons, and in such case, the researcher has to deal with great deal of respect, putting this case into his/her consideration as of the very beginning.
Seventhly: Digital Recording:
The researcher should not record any voices or videos' shots or capture any pictures unless s/he has already obtained the prior approval of the sample's individuals before commencing the recording process, because this action completely violates the ethics of the research.
Eighthly: Feedback:
The researcher has to feedback the sample's individuals or the any other persons targeted through the research with the full findings, and in case s/he was incapable of doing so, it would be enough to provide them with the abstracts or the most important recommendations. In addition, the scientific honesty obligates the researcher to present them the entire pictures, voices, and printed texts of the phrases they have previously mentioned prior to publishing the research for avoidance of the occurrence of any physical or psychological harm.
Ninthly : Fake Hope / Lying:
The researcher should not make the sample's individuals believe that things are going to change as a result of their participation in the search. Also, s/he should not make any promises that may not be fulfilled.
Tenthly: Consideration of Others' Feelings:
The researcher may deal with some of the sample's individuals members who are most likely to have feelings of defeatism or surrender due to age factor or being ill or being unable to understand or express their feelings. Therefore, in such case, the researcher has to take their feelings into consideration and have sympathy on them.
Eleventh: Exploitation of the Situation:
The researcher should not take advantage of or exploit his/her research, so that, s/he does not interpret what has been observed during the application of the research according to the personal preferences and does not favor the achievement of his/her duties according to the personal desires and tendencies.
Twelfth: Confidentiality:
One of the most important aspects of the ethics of the scientific researcher is the protection of the identity of the sample's individuals of during the implementation of the research procedures. The scientific honesty and ethics that the researcher should have obligate him/her to keep their names as confidential in addition to refraining from revealing their real identities through transferring their names into numbers or codes.
Ethics and Values of the Scientific Research:
The scientific research -in general- is an activity that is dedicated to humanity interest, alongside with being an effective tool for motivating the modern humanity progress. It is also deemed as the basis on which the scientific research institution depends and considers as an essential factor that formulates the intellectual wealth of minds what increases work productivity and capital; while having a great impact on the services and commodities that have been served and provided by both the whole country and the private sector. This cannot be achieved unless in case of the availability of the pillars of ethics and controls of the scientific research which everyone shall be committed to.
Principals, Ethics, Potentials, and Competences that Characterize the Scientific Researcher.
1-Competences of the Scientific Researcher:
It is the scientific researcher's insight that allows him/her to distinguish problems, set strategies, and comprehend the findings expected to solve the problem of the research. It formulates a basis for the researcher's behavior, a general framework for his/her identity, and the comprehension processes s/he implements as a researcher.
2-Logical Competences of the Scientific Researcher:
It is parallel to being aware of a research problem or topic and setting reports about the ways of processing it based on logical and convincing basis. Namely; what seems to the researcher actually as individual potentials that enable him/her to reveal the nature of the problem, analyze its conditions and different factors, and determine the extent to which it is needed to be solved. As a result, s/he will decide whether to proceed the implementation of the research or suspend it for being unnecessary or of lower importance.
3-Planning Competences of the Scientific Researcher:
It is the researcher's ability to analyze all the available resources to study the problem, and develop adequate plans to solve it, namely the researcher's abilities to legislate well-planned methods to address the problem and define the type of the targeted findings that are to be regarded as successful solutions.
4-Preocdural Competences of the Scientific Researcher:
It means the researcher's ability to implement the plans pre- set to study and analyze the problem including the process of search management, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the findings to achieve the desired and adequate solutions.
5- Professional and Evaluative Competences of the Scientific Researcher:
They are the competences that characterize the findings and controls of the Scientific Research. These competences can – also- be defined as, the researcher's ability to review and audit all what s/he has done, and filter his/her activities and findings, to confirm their validity for solving the problem and their effectiveness to overcome the commonly observed negative points, and -then- drafting the findings and the adequate reports necessary for publishing the research or for being used by the concerned parties.
In order to achieve the objectives of the scientific research, the researcher shall fulfill the following requirements:
• S/ he should have faith that his / her work is dedicated for God's sake and to serve the society members.
• The researcher's ethics and ideologies shall be deemed as the basis that controls and directs his / her work.
• S/he should have a good experience that enables him /her to plan, implement, and generalize the findings of the research in the light of the scientific research's ethics commitment.
• Avoidance of any kind of selfishness and personal preferences which may- sometimes- negatively affect the humanity's interests in order to achieve a noble objective represented in the new findings with scientific or applied value that contributes in human civilization.
• S / he should enjoy personal courage necessary for achieving the targeted results and fulfill the responsibility for applying these results without any hesitancy or delay in announcing them.
Values and Ethics of the Scientific Research regarding the following:
• Firstly: Ethical problems pertaining to the samples' individual.
• Secondly: Ethical Problems pertaining to the beneficiaries or the competent governmental authorities.
• Thirdly: Post- Research Ethics.
Firstly : Ethical problems pertaining to samples' individuals:
It is necessary for each researcher to achieve balance between research's benefits and their consequences (the benefits), alongside with discussing these consequences prior to conducting the research. Should the ethical consequence happen to be greater than the targeted results, the researcher has to solve this issue and suspend the implementation of the procedures of the research.
1-The Free participation in research procedures:
It means the voluntary pressure–free participation of the samples' individuals in the implementation of the procedures of the research; nevertheless, this will -in a way - lead the researcher to face a problem that is to be solved through achieving balance between the targeted \ research results and the ethical consequences of these results.
2-Self-determination Right:
It is the belief that individuals have the freedom to make decision on their own free will. Besides, when the researcher contributed to alter the participant's behavior, this will be considered as a breach to the principal of the self-determination right.
It might be said that an individual is unable to make his/her own decision, because s/he is not qualified with the necessary knowledge and information. So, the researcher has to refer to or consult whoever has the capability of making these decisions on his/her behalf.
3- Physical and Psychological Harm:
It means the intentional harm that the samples' individual might expose to or incur, or it may refer to the physical or psychological harm pre-schemed by the researcher, as if to face an embarrassing situation that causes stress or failure or even underestimation.
4- Non-Disclosure of the Real Research Objectives':
Some participants -actually – know that their cases are to be studied through their participation in the research, but they – at the same time – are not aware of the real objectives of the research, yet they only knew part of the reality of these objectives without having full and accurate information about the mentioned objectives, or might be provided with untrue information in contradiction to the individual's rights and dignity.
5-Delusion of the Participants and Non-Disclosure of the Real Experience s / he will go through:
It means the researcher's attempts to non-disclose the real objectives of the research and the experiences the participants are to pass through, it also occurs when the researcher deludes those participants claiming that everything is normal. Basically, it is the pre-set schemes that lead the researcher to recourse to lies, bribes, and other illicit and non-ethical behaviors. Some of the researchers assume that delusion may be deemed as a legal method to be utilized in the development of the human behavior development, which – indeed- a breach of the freedom of the participants, thus the researcher is obliged to inform the participants about the reasons for this nob-disclosure upon the completion of the research.
Secondly: The Ethical Problems Pertaining to the Beneficiaries and Governmental Authorities:
Most of the researchers perpetrate some of the negative ethical activities which turn the researches to be of lower quality. In addition, some of these negative ethical activities lead the beneficiaries to make wrong decisions due to conducting inaccurate research. These issues pertain to the processes of quoting, data collection and analysis, and the publication of the research as following:
1-Scientific Plagiarism:
Some researcher may quote some paragraphs from Arabic or foreign references and attribute these phrases and quotes to themselves, this – indeed- is in non-consistency with the entire intellectual property rights. The researcher has to document whatever s/he is quoting from others in accordance with the scientific and methodological ways that exempts him/her from any legal liability, even if s/he has quoted from his/her own books or previously conducted studies, without underestimating others' rights, and commit to scientific research ethics, because any lack of documentation is considered as a plagiarism that its perpetrator shall be punished for.
2-Points of Default in the Research:
The researcher has to clearly mention all the default points that are happened to ascertain in his/her research; this will strengthen the value of the research. Defaults in behavioral scenes and social sciences can take place due to variables' measurements or the methodology of data collection or analysis….etc.
3-Negative Findings:
There is a wrong belief that negative findings are not worth mentioning similarly to the positive ones, and therefore, some researchers tend to ignore the documentation of the negative findings due to their non- relevance to the variables of the study. The right thing is the that lack of relevance between the variables shall not be deemed as less important than being relevant to one another, because both findings are useful to society and the academic authority as well.
4-Findings:
Some of researchers reach for the research findings accidently, however, they mention that those finding were targeted to be reached for. Most of the researchers –then - do not formulate their hypotheses unless they complete the data analysis and extraction process, however; as per the ethics of the scientific research, the formulation questions or hypotheses should be completed prior to the commencement of the data collection and analysis process.
Thirdly: Post-Research Ethics:
There are several ethical considerations that the researcher should commit to after completing his/her research, especially in case of perpetrating any of the unethical activities against the samples' individual who are participating at the research procedures. The research has to clarify the following points to those participants:
1. The nature of the research, its importance, and scientific value to the society.
2. The importance of their contributions in the research and the value of the information they provide to the society.
3. Disclosure and misleading aspects that have been ascertained.
4. Excuses that lead him/her to perpetrate unethical activities.
5. Apology for any harassment caused by the researcher or due to their contributions in the research.
6. Preservation of the confidentiality of information and identities of the participating samples' individuals, while refraining from exploiting the said information for non-scientific purposes, or disclosing the personalities of the participating parties no matter what the reasons are.
The researcher has to confirm the non-existence of any defaults when analyzing or publishing the findings, otherwise the research will – then - contradict the research ethics. When the researcher follow incorrect or inadequate methods, or present findings in a complex or exaggerated way, this may lead to waste the money, effort and time of those who might use these finding later on.
Mechanisms of Controlling the Scientific Research Ethics:
• Establishment of social education as being the basic mechanism for transferring the ethics of scientific research and culture of science in general.
• Imposing strict penalties on the possible scientific deviations such as scientific plagiarism.
• Setting strict controls for promotion systems applicable at the academic and scientific institution.
• Setting controls for the scientific publications and working on improving the culture of scientific publishing.
The orientation day of the Faculty of Medicine
