Research ethics of business academic researchers at AACSB institutions

Abstract

Academic researchers in business are likely to have different perceptions and attitudes regarding what constitute unethical behavior in conducting their research. In fact, some might consider certain actions to be totally ethical while other behaviors might be unacceptable in one discipline, but acceptable in another. Therefore, a survey was administered to a sample of professors at AACSB-accredited institutions to identify those actions felt to be unethical and to gauge the state of research ethics among business academics. The survey was developed around eleven substantive issues concerning business research ethics. Some of the topics included: treatment of data, confidentiality, plagiarism, working with co-authors, and multiple submissions. First, respondents were asked whether they felt the behavior was unethical. Secondly, they were asked whether they had ever personally engaged in such activity. Finally, they were asked if they were aware of colleagues who had taken a particular action.