LAW

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH ETHICS
Role
Principal Investigator
Co-Principal Investigator
Paper Coordinator
Content Writer/Author
Content Reviewer
Name
Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh
Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai
Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai
Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai
Ms Maanvi Tiku
Prof. V.K.Srivastva
Affiliation
Vice Chancellor, National
Law University, Delhi
Registrar, National Law
University Delhi
Registrar, National Law
University Delhi
Registrar, National Law
University Delhi
National Law University
Delhi
Department of Anthropology
, University of Delhi

DESCRIPTION OF MODULE

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Law
Paper Name Research Methodology
Module Name/Title Research Ethics
Module Id XVII

Research Ethics
Objective: After reading this module, the learners will have a clear picture of
(i) Importance of ethics in research;
(ii) Code of Ethics;
(iii) Violation of research ethics;
(iv) Plagiarism;
(v) Steps to maintain research ethics;

Learning Outcomes:
After completion of this module, it is expected that the learners will be able to:
(i) Conduct research in an ethical manner;
(ii) Introduce safeguards for research ethics in their research design.

Structure:
1. Concept of Research Ethics
This topic will cover the following points:
i. What is ethics in research
ii. Need of research ethics
iii. Importance of defining and laying out research ethics

2. Ethical Research
This topic will discuss the various expected forms of actions that are part of code of
ethics in research. The topic will further point out and explain the various checkpoints
in a research for being careful against violation of research ethics. This topic is
divided into the following sub-topics.
1. Code of Ethics
a. Professional competence
 b. Integrity
c. Professional and scientific responsibility
d. Respect for peoples’ rights, dignity and diversity
e. Social responsibility
2. Checkpoints in research
a. Authorisation to research
b. Appropriate techniques and processes
c. Respect for confidentiality
d. Research responsibility
 Sincerity in work
 Strictly avoid plagiarism

3. Plagiarism
This topic will cover the most important issue of unethical research— plagiarism. It
explains plagiarism, the reasons for its growth and then proceeds to discuss the types
and the contributors to plagiarism. The topic proceeds this way:
i. Types of plagiarism
i. Direct plagiarism
ii. Indirect plagiarism
iii. Patch writing
iv. Unintended plagiarism
v. Self plagiarism
ii. Plagiarism and Technological Advancement
i. Plagiarism-friendly technology
ii. Open access content
iii. Easy web sharing
iii. Copyright protection

4. Upholding Research Ethics

This topic will look at the cautionary measures that can be used to avoid violation of
research ethics. It will discuss how technology can be used to prevent and keep a
check on plagiarism. It will also talk about the importance of citation and referencing.

I. Concept of Research Ethics

To understand the concept of ethics in research, one needs to trace the

spirit of research. In every human being lives a researcher, and the thing that
separates a researcher from others is his ability to sift out research problems
from everyday environment. Environment means all that the researcher is
surrounded with. The environment is the same to everybody, but each one of
us observes it differently. For example many problems plague our society in
present times, yet various researchers see different problems in the same
scenario. Thus, where the rate of rapes in India provokes a research on
punitive policy in the mind of one researcher, the same arouses a research on
the position of women in society, in another’s researcher’s mind. The same
problem is viewed by different researchers differently. Thus, it is not only the
societal dynamics that trigger research, but also observation on part of the
researchers.
 Observation is an integral part of research. While research is triggered
by observation, it does not end with that. The goal of every research is a
research report, which may be in the form of a research paper, book or
dissertation. Observation creates some questions in the mind. These questions
get formed into research problem and that paves way for carrying out research.
Research culminates with a research report. The report not only contains the
final conclusions of the researcher, but also explains how the conclusions were
reached at. Thus there is imagination and innovation involved in research.
Imagination and innovation are unique to every human being. Research work
is an area where ideas and imagination are interplayed to result into a unique
research work. Environment is common to all, but deriving ideas of research
out of it is a distinct work of thought process. Similarly techniques, methods
and knowledge of research processes are common to all, but their application
is distinct for each person. Thinking and applying knowledge does not occur
in an instant; it is a laborious process of putting the mind to work.

The arena of research is huge and many enthusiasts enter this field.
However there may be cases where unethical means are employed to produce
a report, for dodging sincere efforts and gaining quick results. For example
copying someone’s idea and claiming it as your own, is like photocopying a
painting and selling it as your own creation. It is easy and it is wrong. It is
obviously easy because one profits out of no work at all. It is wrong because
of violation of ‘ethics’. Ethics give the entire fraternity of researchers a source
of discipline. Ethics lay down the ground rules for a legitimate, moral and fair
research. In fact every walk of life is governed by, even if not entirely
dependent on ethics. Even the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to every citizen
by the Constitution of India come with certain restrictions. Just like
restrictions on Fundamental Rights balances the rights of individual with those
of the society, research ethics lays down the disciple of conducting fair
research. It is not a burden on research, but is a guiding light to do it properly.
The role and importance of research ethics in research does not end with
producing research report. Every research is like a lighthouse for future
research in that field. It is moral as well as professional obligation of the
researcher to conduct research according to accepted norms of ethical
research. The various checkpoints during a research that must be taken care of
by the researcher are discussed ahead in the Module.

One might argue that laying down standard code of ethics and teaching
them is not going to change the manner of carrying out research. In other
words, just the way laying down rules of law cannot guarantee abolition of
crime, laying down norms of research ethics cannot streamline every research.
However rules do set out a model of civilized living, wherein rights of
individuals do not override welfare and justice in the society. Laying down
research ethics plays a similar role in research. It sets some criteria to be
followed in research. Research ethics is not a law laid down by legislators. It
is a symbolic policy to be followed while doing research. Ethics and morality
is a relative term, and it changes from person to person. But changing ethics as
per individual research could lead to confusing precedence. Therefore, various
scholars have formed a common accepted set of research ethics. Laying down
 ethics in clear terms provides guidelines to be followed, so that research by
varied people conforms to a common standard of ethics.

The need for having standard research ethics can be summarized in the
following points:
1. It offers a common set of standards for the knowledge and benefit of
everyone. It rules out uncertainty.
2. It prevails over and supersedes everybody alike, so ethics become
universal to one and all. So no one can claim that ethics and morality
changes from person to person.
3. The researcher has prior knowledge of the path s/he must maintain, to
conform to standards of ethical research.
4. Any research, especially social research cannot be carried out in isolation
with influencing or being influenced by the society. Accepted norms of
research ethics gives a sense of security to the subjects of research to
participate in the research freely.
5. Researches that require approval of authorities for sponsorship are
assured of the standards that will be followed in their sanctioned
research.

II. Checkpoints During Research

Socio-legal research is a process that begins with a concern about some

nagging problem in the society. The concern transforms into a research
problem. The research culminates with some inferences that the researcher
makes according to the analysis done during research. Research ethics lay
down the dos and don’ts of conducting research in a just and fair manner.
Observing and practising ethics in research is a reasonable expectation from
every researcher. Even though doing unethical research may not always be
forbidden by the law, it is a discipline that fosters sense of honesty among
researchers. There is usually no special reward for doing ethical research, yet
unethical means of doing research are widely discredited. It puts a question
mark on the authenticity and validity of research. Lack of checks makes the
compliance of research ethics difficult. The best way to ensure observance of
research ethics is to be individually responsible to follow them. It is the moral
as well as professional obligation of a researcher to abide by the principles of
research ethics.

1. Code of Ethics

The principles of research ethics are not listed out in a concise manner.
There are no strict rules that are to be observed in research. However, just like
the processes and techniques of research that have developed over time, there
are a few accepted rules of conduct that are considered as the basic principles
 of ethical research. One such set of code of ethics has been given by the
American Sociological Association1. These are discussed as follows:
i. Professional competence. Competence to research is not only in terms
of qualification but also intellectual capability. Often the acquiring of a
Master’s degree alone is not sufficient to certify that a person is fit and
qualified to research. Before beginning a research the supervisor or
sanctioning institution must ascertain that the researcher is competent to
conduct research in the field chosen. But most importantly the researcher
himself must be confident about his competence.
Technical soundness of a research is the principal quality that
is expected in a research. Teaching of research techniques and
methodology is given special focus in all institutes conducting research
as part of curriculum. It is expected that research methodology and
techniques of research stay on with the researcher even after the
completion of a research project. All future researches conducted by the
researcher must demonstrate technical soundness.
ii. Integrity. Honesty, genuineness and fairness in research are expected
from a researcher. Misrepresentation and deceit may help the research
one time. But the blot of being an unethical research work never leaves
the final product of the research.
iii. Professional and scientific responsibility. Research work is not carried
out in isolation of the society. Societal dynamics steer the research and
also are affected by it. Research emerges from the problems that exist in
society. Research deeply affects the solutions that are formed to eliminate
these problems. It is a moral and professional responsibility of the
researcher to be aware of effects of his research. It must always be borne
in mind by the researcher that carelessness in the research may have long
lasting effects on the future research in that field, and further on the
society. Thus professional standards must never be compromised with.
iv. Respect for peoples’ rights, dignity and diversity. Research must be
free from bias and so must the researcher. The society is composed of
diverse people often having conflicting rights. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to incorporate the spirit of respect for all in the research
and promote equality of rights in diversity of interests.
v. Social responsibility. It is moral and professional obligation of
researcher to conduct themselves and their research in such a way that is
not disorderly to the society. As we have seen that research emerges from
the society. It is expected that a researcher must give back to the society
the knowledge that it has been able to bank through observation of the
society itself. This knowledge is a potential for development and
revamping of the society.

2. Checkpoints in Research

1
American Sociological Association, ‘Code of Ethics’ <http://www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm>
accessed 23 June 2014
 There are various checkpoints in a research at which the researcher
must be careful about following ethics. Although it is expected that the
researcher is always careful about being ethical; there are some key aspects
that characterize ethics in research. Above we have discussed the code of
ethics. The code of ethics gives the basic norms of ethics. While keeping these
in mind, the following things must be ensured.
i. Authorization to Research. It is the foremost duty of every researcher
to attain required sanctions to carry out the research. The sanctions and
permissions are required from mainly two actors involved in the research
process:
 Research institutes; and
 Participants in research.
Research may be carried out as fulfilment of course
requirements in an educational institution. Research may also be
done by researchers employed by research institutes. In both the
scenarios, while presenting the research proposal, the required
permission and sanction from the institute must be duly attained.
Sanction is also required to be attained from any sponsoring
institute.
As research is carried out in tandem with the society, due
permission from the society is also required. The participants in a
research may be a group of families or individual members, or
even an organisation. Due permission from the heads of
households, or heads of institutions or the heads of the
organisations from where the data is proposed to be collected must
be acquired, before beginning the research. Often organisations
have their own policies with respect to research, especially where
the organisation is frequently approached for purposes of research
activities.
It is the duty of the researcher to duly convey to the
participants the objectives of the research as well as requirements
from the participants. They must be informed about the extent of
disruption in their lives (for example in participatory research). The
participants must be made aware of the legitimacy of the research
and the researcher(s). Most importantly, the participants would not
agree to be a part of the research unless they are explained the
utility of the research to them. It is a moral and professional duty of
the researcher to make the participants fully aware regarding the
research so that they may give an informed consent.

ii. Appropriate Techniques and Processes. The researcher must at all time
conform to the laid down tools and techniques of research. There are
various steps of research at which the researcher must be careful of
following appropriate techniques. Choosing the correct and most
appropriate methodology for the research is the primary requirement of
being technically sound. Employing suitable tools and techniques of
sampling, data collection and data analysis is as important as using them
efficiently. Data interpretation and pouring out the results of research in
to the research report in a well-organized and proficient manner is also
very important. In short, the researcher must make sure that he has
 chosen the appropriate tools, techniques and methodology for his
research. For that the researcher must be willing to o back to books again
and again. It is not a shame to learn again and again; but to carry out
work with limited knowledge is shameful indeed.

iii. Respect for Confidentiality. It is important for a researcher to

understand that the permission to carry out research within the society
and among people is not his right, but a privilege. During the research it
is possible that the researcher may gain access to some confidential
information pertaining to somebody or some people. It is a prime rule of
research to respect other people’s confidentiality. A researcher must
never use anybody’s information without their informed consent. There
may be a situation in which the participants themselves may be unaware
about their right to privacy. It will be a gross violation of research ethics
if a researcher uses information of a person or people that violates their
right to privacy. Social research will lose its sprit if the decorum of
society itself is violated.

iv. Research Responsibility. Every researcher is obligated to the society

and to the fellow researchers, to respect and uphold integrity in research.
Integrity in research is mainly upheld in two main ways:
 Sincerity in work; and
 Strictly avoid plagiarism.
It is primary responsibility of a researcher to be sincere to the
work. Care must be taken to execute research in the utmost responsible
and correct way, at every step:
a. Sampling;
b. Data collection;
c. Data analysis;
d. Writing the research report;
e. Publication of report.

It has already been emphasised that the researcher must be well-

versed with technical knowledge of research methods and methodology.
Along with the know-how it is equally important to strictly adhere to
these methods and techniques, in any circumstance. For example a
common mistake of researchers is to compromise on integrity and
sincerity by faking data collection or doing half-hearted and incomplete
analysis of data. This is done to save time. But it costs them a whole
research report, because once a research report is delivered in respect of
some data, it will always be associated with that data; even if the
researcher may want to make amends later. Similarly while choosing the
samples and the subjects for study the researcher must remove any bias
and be sincere to the research.
Every process and step involved in research comes with its own
set of rules and standard to be adhered to. So if each of these steps is
followed in its truest spirit, research ethics would become an easy and
effortless part of the research work, rather than a sword hanging on the
research. In other words, simply the technical knowledge of research is
not sufficient; it is the responsibility of the researcher to perform research
sincerely in the prescribed manner.
 Apart from being technically sound and doing research sincerely
the research must be a unique production of the researcher himself. In
other words research must be free from plagiarism. Absolute abstinence
from plagiarism is the most important quality that a research work can
possess in present times of technological leaps. Plagiarism is shameful
for research in any field, but plagiarism in legal research is just like a
plague in a hospital. Research has the potential to affect and influence
opinions in society, various professions and education. It is, thus, the
responsibility of each and every researcher to be cautious in being unique
with their research work. Where ideas or some excerpts from another
author are taken, they must be given due credit in the form of citation.
Plagiarism is a menace that not only poses a question mark on the
authenticity of new researches conducted every day, but also leaves a bad
precedence. Plagiarism has been discussed in detail further in the
Module.

III. Plagiarism

Plagiarism refers to the act of copying an idea or presentation thereof

and presenting it as one’s own. In simple terms plagiarism is stealing.
Incorrect citation or no citation at all is one way of plagiarising. Quoting a
large amount of content of somebody’s work and presenting it without either
the knowledge of the actual author or not referencing it to their credit, is
plagiarism. Not only such direct copying but also indirect copying in such a
way that the taker rephrases an idea of someone else and presents it in his own
name constitutes plagiarism. To betray a fellow researcher’s trust is serious
injury to the spirit of researching. Special care must be taken to check
plagiarism in research by amateur researchers, student researchers and
untrained researchers. Teaching research ethics in academic institutions is not
sufficient unless a researcher feels it as his moral obligation. Self-discipline is
the most effective defence against plagiarism.
Plagiarism opens the door of easy access to earn a name in research, as
long as it remains concealed. Although there can be no excuses for plagiarism,
yet the following are the possible contributory factors for it to grow into a
menace:
a) It is easy access to reward, as without any intellectual effort one
gains a research work in one’s name.
b) Due to laziness some people choose the easy yet wrong way to
complete research work.
c) There are some cases where the research area is not of the interest of
the researcher. One must be careful at the very beginning of research
to choose the area one is interested in. Disinterest may lead to opting
for plagiarism, to evade efforts.
d) Often the professional demands of another employment and
pressures of multiple research projects have a huge impact on the
research. In such cases researchers may employ unprofessional
means to achieve targets and meet deadlines. Plagiarism is often a
common consequence of such panic.
e) Time is very precious and is often a source of anxiety for a
researcher. To save time a researcher may resort to copying content
of another and paste it in his research.
 f) Professional demands and pressures of competition among peers
sometimes bear heavily on the sincerity put in research. In a race to
get to the top speedily, researchers often choose the easy way of
plagiarism.
g) The last probable cause of plagiarism yet the most important one is
that there are hardly any checks on it. The plagiarising researchers
have hardly anything to fear as there are no checks. Plagiarism is still
a moral wrong and unethical but is not illegal always. Copyright law
India, for example, prescribes various tedious routes to follow to
protect one’s literary content; and the measures provided for in case
of violation are also quite tedious. This aspect has been dealt-with in
detail further in the Module.
1. Types of Plagiarism
It has been discussed above that plagiarism is an impediment to sincere
research. It must be avoided as well as prevented. Self precaution is the best
way to put a stop to plagiarism. Following are the various forms in which
plagiarism is seen in research works. An understanding of these forms of
plagiarism gives a clear outline about the avoidable actions in research.
i. Direct plagiarism
Direct plagiarism means blatant and complete copying of someone else’s
work and claiming it as one’s own, i.e., without giving true reference of the
author. Sometimes huge chunks of a research’s content are found to be
actually from a previously published work. When a researcher deliberately
copies someone’s work into his own, with the knowledge and the intention
that it will constitute as part of his work, is direct form of plagiarism.
ii. Indirect Plagiarism
Writing a research report is a unique way of expression of inherent ideas that
are unique to every researcher. The copying of this expression is no doubt,
unethical; and so is copying the very idea from which the research emerged.
In some research works it is found that the language, wording, and
paraphrasing by the researcher is different but the idea seems to be directly
scooped out of another research. This does not mean that researchers must
not read or be inspired by another researcher’s work. But where such
inspiration is used, it must be cited in the author’s name in the prescribed
way.
iii. Patch writing
Sometimes researchers use the work of other authors in bits and pieces.
There may be copy of other’s work, but copying may be of whole
pieces from it. This kind of plagiarism is called patch writing. Even in
such a scenario the dishonest use of other person’s work will amount
to plagiarism.
iv. Unintended Plagiarism
Sometimes plagiarism occurs as a result of neglect of the researcher. It may
be regarded as accidental, but it is still plagiarism. Wrongly quoting an
author, wrong citation or no citation at all, are all forms of unintended
plagiarism that may occur to carelessness and negligence of the researcher.
Accidents and mistakes are not acceptable where professionalism is expected.
v. Self plagiarism
Where a researcher publishes his own previously published material, it
is called self plagiarism. Although it does not sound like plagiarism,
but where same material is published again without trace of any
changes or amendments or improvement, it is unethical.
2. Plagiarism and Technological Advancement
Technological leaps have proved to be a boon for research, as it has opened
many doors for convenient, time-saving, cost-efficient and proficient research.
Computers have given assistance and cut down on the time and efforts spent in
researching; in other words, with the advent and development of computer
technology, the hard work put in research has become very focussed and specialised.
For example nowadays researchers use least amount of paper, as they store even the
most primary research work in their computers. Data collection has become easier as
internet is a must cheaper and efficient mode of communication. To add to that
supervisors encourage student researchers to send their rough drafts of research report
via e-mail first, before printing it. This saves a lot of paper as corrections and
modifications can be made much easily, before final publication. Internet eases
research further by opening avenues to a wide variety of open access and limited
access web database. E-books, e-articles and all sorts of e-content have brought
knowledge and answers to a variety of questions, at the click of one finger. It is a
common trend these days to seek answers for any doubt on the internet, before
consulting books.

Where on one hand technological advancement has eased research to a very

large extent, plagiarisers have also benefitted a lot from it. Technology is an able
assistant to researchers. It is also a tempting aide in plagiarising. Let us discuss below
how plagiarism is assisted by technology.
i. Plagiarism-friendly technology
The most important tool for plagiarising is being able to copy from
somewhere and incorporate it into one’s own content. In the absence of e-
content and computers, researchers would take a lot of effort to find material
in books. It would be a huge amount of work to copy every word. Even
where plagiarism was done, its extent would be limited, due to the huge
amount of effort required for that. But with e-content available, copying it
using various tools in the computer has become a child’s play. It is easy to
copy and paste from any known or unknown source, without much fear of
exposed. Technological development is a mighty help in proficient research;
but its misuse is a threat to proficiency and sincerity itself.
ii. Open access content
Internet is host to many kinds of scholarly content. These materials may be
‘open access’ or ‘limited access’, depending on the mode of accessing them.
Where a website contains content that cannot be accessed unless one is
registered through an institution or by paying of some fee, the content is
called ‘limited access’ content. If a website allows free access to any person,
it is called open access content. It is very easy to copy from such open access
websites, as anybody can access them and copy therefrom. Plagiarism is
capable of forming a vicious circle, as it is often difficult to authenticate
whether the material that is being copied is itself plagiarised or original.
iii. Easy web sharing
Transmitting and receiving content on internet is very easy, and it may
encourage undue use of genuine works. For example where a genuine author
shared his yet to be published research with a budding researcher for
opinions, and the researcher copied a major chunk of the content and
published in his own name, it is gross plagiarism.

3. Copyright Protection
 Plagiarism is not only an unethical and grossly unprofessional form of
misconduct; it also amounts to a legal wrong as it is violation of an ‘intellectual
property right’. Intellectual property is the property owned by a person by virtue of
being the creation and production of his own intellect. Just like property of other
natures, there are certain rights that are associated with intellectual property. All the
steps involved in carrying out research work, beginning from an idea and going up to
the research report, are all forms of ‘intellectual property’, as all of them emerge from
the intellect of a person. Although it is difficult to protect an idea from being copied,
as it is an intangible result of thinking; yet the final product of research can be given
legal security from plagiarism. ‘Research report’ is a literary work. All kinds of
literary content are protected under Indian Copyright Act. The Copyright Act gives
an exclusive right to the holder of Copyright to draw monetary benefit by using the
content; nobody else holds this right. The Copyright Act lays down various penalties
for violation or ‘infringement’ of copyright. These penalties include monetary
compensation, imprisonment and decree of injunction from court. The Act allows the
copyright holder to permit any person to use such content or assign license to any
person to draw monetary benefit out of it. Such act done with due permission from
the author will not amount to infringement of copyright. Similarly correct mention of
the source of a particular content in the prescribed form of citation or reference is a
way to prevent being a ‘plagiariser’. However a catch in the Act is that where a
person has not so registered and his content is copied, he shall have to prove in the
court of law that it was written by him first.

IV. Upholding Research Ethics

We have discussed in depth about the importance of following ethics

in research. Violation of research ethics sets a bad precedence for future
researches and poses doubt on the authenticity of research. Incorrect means of
conducting sampling and data collection, unauthorised pursuance of research,
breach of confidentiality of other people, insincerity towards own work and
plagiarism are all forms of violation of research ethics. However prevention is
not possible without the determination of the researcher himself. Self-
precaution is the most important and effective way of upholding research
ethics. In addition to the researcher it is also the moral duty of the supervisor
of researcher to be fully aware if the researcher is using unethical means to
complete his research.

Principles of research ethics emanate from perceptions of moral rights

and wrongs. The best way to keep check on such violation is by the researcher
himself. However where researcher is being supervised, such supervisor may
keep an eye on the researcher’s methods. It is his duty as the supervisor. A
good way to enforce ethical research in institutions of research is by
introducing a system of checks and tabs therein. The evaluating system of the
institution itself can incorporate evaluation of a research on the basis of some
critical points, one of them being ethical research. One such initiative has been
taken by various research and academic institutes in India; it is an innovation
whereby technology is used to curb plagiarism. A software programme named
‘Turn-it-in’ is used to check if a research report submitted by the student has
any amount of plagiarised material. Where such unauthorised material is
found, the student may be asked to resubmit the research. Such use of
technology is a welcome initiative and must be incorporated by all research
institutes and academic institutions. This will not only discourage unethical
research but also promote good quality research on student level.

Plagiarism sheds an inferior light on the research and promotes further

unauthentic research. It is malpractice which can be prevented by taking right
measures in the course of research. Referencing is a crucial way of avoiding
the pitfall of plagiarism. Research includes intensive reading of existing
literature in the concerned field. But where the researcher chooses to use some
parts of the existing literature in his research report, it must be given due credit
by referencing it. Referencing or citation is the method of mentioning the
name and credits of the source of the information used. There are various
formats of citation that are used in research. These are called ‘styles of
citation’. Some popular ones used in social research today are MLA format,
OSCOLA format, Harvard Bluebook style, APA style, etc. Each of these
formats or styles has their unique rules relating to citing the source. There are
rules for everything right from mentioning the name of book or journal,
author, publication year and publisher to web address of websites, when it was
last accessed, etc. The information used may be from a book, an article in a
journal or newspaper, a research paper, or even the internet; every source must
be cited or referenced in the prescribed manner. The rules of these styles are
learnt only while conducting research and incorporating them in the research
report. It is important to note that only one format of citation must be followed
in the entire research.

As we have seen that technology has been a friend as well foe to

research, it must be borne in mind to use technology in the safest and most
ethical way possible. Huge amount of information and e-content is available
on the internet. Most of this information is free of cost. In the interest of ethics
a researcher must avoid using information from the internet that seems
unauthorised. Plagiarism is a vicious chain reaction of using and re-using
plagiarised material. The only way to break this chain reaction is to put a
pause on it. Where information is taken from the internet, proper citation must
be used to mention the web address and the date and time it was last accessed.
Further in the interest of upholding research values, unknown sources or
websites that publish unauthenticated material must not be incorporated in the
research.

Unethical means of doing research are nothing but a tendency to

compromise on quality. If this tendency is curbed at the very root of the
problem, i.e. academic institutions, it will go a long way in preventing this
problem altogether. The goal of the research at student level must be quality
oriented research that has potential to develop into macro-research. Value-
based and ethical research must be encouraged rather than easy and quick
research. At every level it is the responsibility of researchers to conduct their
research in the most ethical way. It must be their aim to conduct a clean
research whereby future research will also benefit. Unethical research is not a
benefit to the researcher himself, as it puts a wrong confidence in his mind that
he can always get away with it. Research is a spearhead for not only
knowledge in the society but also has potential of influencing public opinions.
Thus it is only fair that research itself is free from immoral and unethical
means. Only when research is ridden free from such corrupt chains, then it can
become the fountainhead of development in society.