Research and Publication Ethics

Research is an effort to seek the truth and communicate it. In the process, participants or subjects of research must be recognised and respected, and the principles of research ethics must protect the vulnerable from exploitation. The researcher must do the reporting of research findings with honesty and professionalism. Non-adherence to the above principles in the early research period resulted in gross abuse of personality and autonomy. Research is now subjected to rigorous scrutiny to stem the tide of abuse and ascertain and guarantee the sanctity of the research participants, process and product. These are the fundamentals of the practice of ethics in both research and publication. In effect, this paper aims to address ethics and its application to research and publications.