LibGuides: Research methods: Academic Ethics

Research Ethics & Academic Integrity at IOU

What Is Research Ethics?

Research ethics refers to the values and principles that guide how research is planned, conducted, and shared. These principles ensure the rights, dignity, and safety of all participants — and protect the credibility of your work.

Key principles include:

Honesty: Present your data and sources truthfully
Integrity: Avoid plagiarism and misrepresentation of findings
Respect for participants: Obtain informed consent and ensure privacy
Transparency: Be clear about your methods, tools, and limitations
Responsibility: Use your research to contribute positively to knowledge and society

Ethics When Working with Human Participants

If your research involves human subjects (e.g., interviews, surveys, or focus groups), you must follow certain ethical steps:

Clearly explain the purpose of the research
Obtain informed consent
Protect participants' confidentiality and data
Ensure participation is voluntary, with the option to withdraw at any time
Avoid causing harm, pressure, or discomfort

If you're unsure whether your project needs ethical clearance, consult your instructor or academic advisor.

Academic Integrity in Writing and Reporting

Maintaining academic integrity means:

Citing all your sources properly using APA, MLA, or Chicago style
Avoiding plagiarism, including copying, close paraphrasing, or presenting someone else's ideas without credit
Quoting accurately and acknowledging both direct and indirect contributions
Reporting your own findings without fabrication or falsification

Even when using research tools (e.g., translation software, citation generators, or AI writing aids), transparency and proper attribution are essential.

A Note on AI Tools

While tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, or other AI-based platforms can assist with grammar, organization, or brainstorming, they must be used ethically and transparently in academic research.

Acceptable uses include:

Brainstorming ideas or refining research questions
Improving grammar and clarity (with final editing by the student)
Exploring sample formats or examples for surveys or writing

Unacceptable uses include:

Submitting AI-generated essays, arguments, or analysis as your own work
Using AI to replace original thinking or avoid doing the required reading
Copy-pasting AI content without critical review or citation

If you choose to use any AI tool:

Be clear about how it was used
Disclose its use in your methodology or acknowledgments
Cite it if the content influenced your work
Verify all content, as AI may provide false or biased information

Learn more about ethical AI use in IOU’s dedicated guide: IOU LibGuide on Artificial Intelligence Tools

Reminder: If you're not sure whether AI use is allowed for a particular assignment, always ask your instructor first.

Need Support?

If you have questions about academic or research ethics, contact:

IOU Library: director.libraries@iou.edu.gm
Your Instructor or Academic Advisor
Academic Support Services

eBooks on research methodology

Qualitative Content Analysis by Udo Kuckartz; Stefan Radiker This hands-on guide to qualitative content analysis from two internationally renowned experts provides you with a clear strategy for analysing your data, whether you are working with social media content, field notes, images, narratives or focus group data.
Publication Date: 2023-04-03
Designing Qualitative Research by Catherine Marshall; Gretchen B. Rossman; Gerardo Blanco Offering clear, easy-to-understand guidance on designing qualitative research, this fully updated Seventh Edition of Marshall and Rossman’s bestselling text retains the useful examples, tools, and vignettes that makes it such an outstanding resource.
Publication Date: 2021-06-21
Creative Research Methods by Helen Kara Written in an accessible, practical and jargon-free style, this useful book informs and inspires researchers by showing readers why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research.
Publication Date: 2020-10-14
Applied Qualitative Research Design by Margaret R. Roller; Paul J. Lavrakas This unique text provides a comprehensive framework for creating, managing, and interpreting qualitative research studies that yield valid and useful information.
Publication Date: 2015-01-30
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers by Johnny Saldana an in-depth guide to each of the multiple approaches available for coding qualitative data.
Publication Date: 2009-03-05

Quantitative Data Analysis Tools

Excel / Google Sheets Excel / Google Sheets: While not designed specifically for qualitative work, spreadsheets are often used to manually code and organize qualitative data before transferring it to more specialized software like NVivo or MAXQDA.
R R is incredibly versatile and, with packages like RQDA or tm (for text mining), it can be used for text analysis, thematic coding, and natural language processing, bridging qualitative and quantitative approaches.
SPSS While SPSS is widely used for statistical analysis, it can handle coded qualitative data (e.g., turning interview themes into categorical variables for statistical analysis). It's useful when qualitative data has been quantified.
Stata Like SPSS, Stata excels at statistical analysis, but qualitative researchers may use it for analyzing quantified qualitative data, especially in mixed methods studies.

Data Collection Tools

ChatGPT / GPT-based tools Can assist with summarizing long text, generating thematic codes, drafting reports, or even brainstorming interview questions. Always requires human oversight for accuracy and ethics.
Google Docs / Microsoft Word Basic tools for manually recording and organizing interview notes or transcriptions.
Lexalytics Advanced AI tools for sentiment analysis, entity extraction, and natural language processing in qualitative data
Microsoft Teams Useful for conducting and recording interviews and group discussions in virtual settings.
MonkeyLearn A no-code platform for text analysis, including sentiment analysis, keyword extraction, and topic classification. Great for analyzing qualitative responses at scale.
Otter.ai An AI-powered transcription tool useful for converting interviews and discussions into text.
Sonix A multilingual AI transcription tool that allows for speaker labeling, highlighting, and automated subtitling.
Zoom Commonly used for recording remote interviews and focus groups, with transcription and recording capabilities

Research methods: Academic Ethics

Academic Ethics in Research at IOU