Ethical considerations and their applications to research: a case of the University of Nairobi

Abstract

Human beings face many challenges especially when they are expected to make certain ethical decisions in life. Sometimes, it is difficult to classify the difference between ethics and morality. This paper examined the meaning of ethics and research ethics in particular; the characteristics or research ethics and the need to embrace research ethics in academic writing. The study was basically library oriented, emphasizing on the bad apple theory and the stressful or imperfect theory. Emphasis was laid on the need to uphold research ethics in institutions of public learning with particular reference to the University of Nairobi where all Masters and PhD candidates’ reports are subjected to the turnitin anti plagiarism software. It is a requirement that they must comply with the 15% and less plagiarized material rule so as to be approved for graduation and inclusion into the research repository. It is also noted that all post graduate students and academic members of staff are supposed to be registered into the Google scholar accounts and their works documented accordingly in the research repository.