Research Ethics for Twenty-First Century LIS Professionals

Abstract

Research in several disciplines is gaining importance in the 21st century. In India, agencies like University Grant Commission (UGC) assessing the performance of the faculty based on the Academic Performance Index (API). Irrespective of the aptitude, ability and interest in research, aspiring researchers are pushing themselves to publish research papers and also are aiming to do Ph.D. Therefore there is sudden proliferation in number of journal publications and Ph.Ds. But the most important part of maintaining international standards in publishing research papers and doing Ph.D. is not taken seriously. In fact, researchers are failing to maintain good research standards and ethics in research. This has resulted in misconduct both at individual level and at the organisational level. There are guidelines available for doing good research. If these guidelines are followed systematically along with general ethical principles, the research performance will be good and will result in avoiding data falsification, fabrication and redundant publications. Keeping these points in mind the authors have elaborately discussed research ethics for 21st century in general and LIS professional in particular.