ETHICS

Scientific research must be ethical.

A first step toward determining whether your research is ethical is to consult APA's ethical code.

If you are planning to do human research, you will probably also need to ask an Institutional Review Board (IRB) for permission to do your research. To learn more about IRBs, visit the following sites.

• A useful manual that explains how to submit an application to an IRB, explains what ethical considerations researchers should weigh, and explains how IRBs evaluate proposals. (Note that it is in pdf format so you will need to have Adobe Acrobat to read this file.)
• U.S. Government rules regarding  research with human participants
• Training to deal with human participants and IRBs

      Ethical principles (and a historical background)

      1-2 hour training in how IRBs should work (select "Computer-Based" Training and then the "IRB members")