Journal of Dental Research, Vol 75, 832-835, Copyright © 1996 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Developing ethical standards for responsible research: Why? Form? Functions? Process? Outcomes?
M. S. Frankel
Program on Scientific Freedom, Responsibility and Law, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC 20005, USA.
Any profession that is considering the development of ethical standards
should give serious attention to the intended purposes of such standards,
what form they should take, what functions they will serve, how the process
for developing them should be organized, what outcomes are sought, and what
values are central to the mission and performance of the profession. The
profession serves as a normative reference group for individual
practitioners and through ethical standards clarifies, for both its members
and outsiders, the norms that ought to govern professional behavior. Such
standards may be aspirational, educational, or regulatory, and may perform
many functions, nine of which are discussed. The process of developing
standards is assessed because of the role it plays in gaining consensus on
professional values and ethical norms. Finally, several outcomes likely to
increase the value and utility of ethical standards are identified.
