David Resnik in The Ethics of Science (1998) identifies twelve ethical principles associated with scientific research. Among these are:

• Honesty: Scientists "should be objective, unbiased, and truthful in all aspects of the research process."
  
  
• Carefulness: Scientists "should minimize experimental, methodological, and human errors and avoid self-deception, bias, and conflicts of interest."
  
  
• Credit: "Credit should be given where credit is due but not where it is not due."
  
  
• Respect for Subjects: Scientists should respect the rights and dignity of human and non-human animal subjects.
  

The Office of Research Integrity oversees the research integrity activities of the United States Public Health Service. While strictly speaking its regulatory influence is limited to PHS agencies, its influence extends throughout universities (such as EMU) that receive any PHS funding. It has identified nine "key principles of integrity in science." Among these are:

• Careful observation of requirements for confidentiality in the peer review process
  
  
• Proper supervision of personnel and data
  
  
• Avoidance of conflicts of interest
  
  
• Maintenance of accurate and detailed records of research procedures and results
  
  
• Suitable assignment of credit and responsibility for research publications
  

These statements are necessarily brief. Books have been written on them (see Resnik,1998, or Beauchamp and Childress, 1994). They serve, however, as a reminder of some basic standards within the research community.

For instance, consider Resnik's statement on credit: "Credit should be given where credit is due but not where it is not due." On the one hand, the statement is obvious. On the other hand, it gets at the very heart of such issues as honorary authorship and appropriate acknowledgment of the contribution of students on a research project.

All the principles require a great deal of thought before they can be applied in practical situations. An entire module in this series is devoted to the subject of conflicts of interest, and another is devoted to proper treatment of human subjects. One purpose of stating these principles in very broad terms is to open up a discussion of what they mean when applied to particular situations.

Most disciplines have statements of research integrity or more general codes of conduct tailored to their specific needs. These codes of conduct are usually found on websites maintained by professional societies. It is particularly useful for mentors to bring these professional codes of conduct to the attention of their mentees.