Internet research ethics

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Internet research ethics involves the research ethics of Internet research, with an emphasis on scientific research carried out via the Internet.

Especially well-known to those interested in bioethics are the Belmont Principles^[1] They provide a useful conceptual framework for consideration of issues in research ethics relevant to the protection of human subjects involved in biomedical or behavioral research. However, a principle-based approach is only one of a number of conceptual frameworks that are used to examine ethical issues. Others^[2] include:

Consequentialist (or utilitarian) ethics
Deontological ethics
Ethics of care
Virtue ethics
Open source ethics

[edit] References

Berry, D. M. (2004). Internet Research: Privacy, Ethics and Alienation - An Open Source Approach. The Journal of Internet Research, 14(4) PDF, 105 KB. Emphasis on Internet research ethics within the larger context of "open-source ethics".
Ethics Working Group of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). Provides access to the Ethics Working Committee document on Internet research ethics that was approved by voting members of the AoIR on November 27, 2002 PDF, 330 KB.
Internet Research Ethics. Provides access to papers that emerged from a panel presentation organized for a conference held at Lancaster University on December 14- December 16, 2001, building on the efforts of the Ethics Working Committee of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). Emphasis on perspectives of researchers and scholars in the social sciences and humanities.
Ethical issues in qualitative research on Internet communities, Eysenbach G, Till JE, BMJ 2001(10 November); 323(7321): 1103-1105. Emphasis on a perspective from the biomedical and health sciences.
Ethical and Legal Aspects of Human Subjects Research in Cyberspace. Provides access to a report of a workshop held in Washington DC on June 10- June 11, 1999 PDF, 65 KB. Includes useful references to the earlier literature.