RT Article
T1 Approving or Improving Research Ethics in Management Journals
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 137
IS 3
SP 507
OP 520
A1 Greenwood, Michelle
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2016
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785658603
AB Despite significant scholarly debate about knowledge production in the management discipline through the peer-review journal processes, there is minimal discussion about the ethical treatment of the research subject in these publication processes. In contrast, the ethical scrutiny of management research processes within research institutions is often highly formalized and very focused on the protection of research participants. Hence, the question arises of how management publication processes should best account for the interests of the research subject, both in the narrow sense of specific research participants and in the broader understanding of the subject of the research. This question is particularly pertinent in light of significant codification of research ethics within academic institutions, and increasing self-reflection within the management discipline about the “good” of management research and education. Findings from a survey and interviews with management journal editors (and others involved in journal publication) reveal a complex scenario; many editors believe that a formalized requirement within the journal publication process may have detrimental outcomes and, in fact, diminish the ethical integrity of management scholarship. Building on these findings, this paper argues that ethical concern for the research subject merely in terms of institutional rule compliance and avoidance of harm to individual participants is insufficient, and calls for explicitly positive engagement with both the individual and the collective subject of management research should receive due ethical consideration. An alternative model involving reflexive ethical consideration of research subjects across the publication process—with implications for role of authors, reviewers, editors, and research subjects—is outlined.
K1 Research training
K1 Research education
K1 ethics committees
K1 human subjects
K1 Academic ethics
K1 publication ethics
K1 research ethics
DO 10.1007/s10551-015-2564-x