The following article has had some impact it seems - the JSPS in Japan is using it as reference material for its course on research ethics:

Martinson, B.C., Anderson, M.S., and de Vries, R., "Scientists Behaving Badly," Nature , 435, 2005, p.737-738

The authors highlight the need for attention to "Questionable Research Practices" (QRP), not only good or bad practices.

When I went to Academia.edu to obtain a free download if the article, the bundle of related articles offered was very large, with (too) much to explore :-(

The JSPS course also cites the following sources:

National Academy of Sciences, Responsible Science: Ensuring the Integrity of the Research Process, Vol. 1. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press p.28 (1992)

National Academy of Sciences. On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition . (2009). Available for free pdf download here:

https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12192/on-being-a-scientist-a-guide-to-responsible-conduct-in

The following recommendations have been cited by the Japan Society for the Promotion Science (JSPS) in its 2023 course on research ethics. The ICMJE recommendations are useful for most research fields, not just medicine.

For medicine there is obviously a critical need for care in the process of doing and publishing research.

One can say the same thing about engineering or materials science, as poor methods of construction based on poor or misleading research can be just as dangerous to human life as poor medical practice based on poor or misleading research.

SEE:

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)," Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals ," Updated December 2022.

Photo: Deconstruction.

This can also happen to bad research!

Codes of conduct, research ethics and integrity... there are many ways to label the subject, but the overall goal is to make science a positive approach to understanding the world and guiding human activities. Science and knowledge can be powerful, anything that is powerful can do much that is good, and much that is not, however "good" is defined.

The actual details that need to be considered by any individual person or organisation depend on context: who is doing the work, who else is involved, the topic of study, the place of study, the methods used, what kind of information is generated, how information is communicated, the ways in which information might be used, intended purposes and possible unintended consequences, and who or what will benefit, or might benefit, directly or indirectly, when, and where.

In this blog I will gradually add links to a range of articles and websites where codes of conduct and research ethics are discussed or provided. Seeing many different examples may help members of the Research Cooperative consider what is best practice in their own areas of activity, as researchers, students, editors, translators and so on. Codes of conduct are often developed by professional societies, academic societies, institutions. Some may be very broad in scope, others may be designed for specific disciplines or even for specific methods used within a discipline.

If you would like to discuss these matters with other members of our network, please see our topic focus group for Research Ethics and Integrity

Here is an example with very broad scope, published by ALLEA (European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities), which represents more than 50 academies in over 40 EU and non-EU countries. ALLEA aims to promote science as a global public good, and facilitate scientific collaboration across borders and disciplines: The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity  

The Code was published in English on 24th March 2017, and was translated into all official EU languages. All versions can be accessed through the link above.