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From Problems to a Model of Action: Romanian University Ethics Commissions - Case Study

Received: 29 January 2022    Accepted: 22 February 2022    Published: 3 March 2022
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Abstract

Research on issues of academic ethics from the perspective of ethics committees has been the subject of specialized literature, especially for Research Ethics Commissions and to a lesser degree for committees that investigate and sanction the unethical behavior - Ethical Sanctioning Commissions. The sanctioning commissions play a very important role in maintaining the ethical climate of higher education institutions, by raising awareness amongst the members in the academic community on the effects of committing unethical deeds. Also, legal regulations have a significant impact on the maintain and enforce of an ethical climate in higher education institutions and any other institution or organization. This study: (i) starting with concrete problems facing these ethics commissions in Romania, in the backdrop of the legislation in force and the national jurisprudence and (ii) taking into account the actions taken by the authors, during the period of 2019-2021, to solve these problems, (iii) propose a useful model of actions for all those ethics committees that find themselves in similar situations. The proposed model of action follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, but in seven steps. In this cycle, the final step, the seventh, may be the first in case of partially solved of the previously ethical issues identified. The presented vision of the ESC's activity opens up new directions of research, at least in terms of conducting comparative studies either on the role and place of these commissions or on the related legislation and even finding new solutions to the problems presented.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25
Page(s) 134-142
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ethics, Academic Ethics, Ethics Commission, Ethical Sanctions, High Education Institutions, Legal Regulation, Model of Action

References
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    Cristina Mihaela Salca Rotaru, Laura Manea. (2022). From Problems to a Model of Action: Romanian University Ethics Commissions - Case Study. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(1), 134-142. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25

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    Cristina Mihaela Salca Rotaru; Laura Manea. From Problems to a Model of Action: Romanian University Ethics Commissions - Case Study. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(1), 134-142. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25

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    Cristina Mihaela Salca Rotaru, Laura Manea. From Problems to a Model of Action: Romanian University Ethics Commissions - Case Study. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(1):134-142. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25,
      author = {Cristina Mihaela Salca Rotaru and Laura Manea},
      title = {From Problems to a Model of Action: Romanian University Ethics Commissions - Case Study},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {5},
      number = {1},
      pages = {134-142},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220501.25},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220501.25},
      abstract = {Research on issues of academic ethics from the perspective of ethics committees has been the subject of specialized literature, especially for Research Ethics Commissions and to a lesser degree for committees that investigate and sanction the unethical behavior - Ethical Sanctioning Commissions. The sanctioning commissions play a very important role in maintaining the ethical climate of higher education institutions, by raising awareness amongst the members in the academic community on the effects of committing unethical deeds. Also, legal regulations have a significant impact on the maintain and enforce of an ethical climate in higher education institutions and any other institution or organization. This study: (i) starting with concrete problems facing these ethics commissions in Romania, in the backdrop of the legislation in force and the national jurisprudence and (ii) taking into account the actions taken by the authors, during the period of 2019-2021, to solve these problems, (iii) propose a useful model of actions for all those ethics committees that find themselves in similar situations. The proposed model of action follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, but in seven steps. In this cycle, the final step, the seventh, may be the first in case of partially solved of the previously ethical issues identified. The presented vision of the ESC's activity opens up new directions of research, at least in terms of conducting comparative studies either on the role and place of these commissions or on the related legislation and even finding new solutions to the problems presented.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Research on issues of academic ethics from the perspective of ethics committees has been the subject of specialized literature, especially for Research Ethics Commissions and to a lesser degree for committees that investigate and sanction the unethical behavior - Ethical Sanctioning Commissions. The sanctioning commissions play a very important role in maintaining the ethical climate of higher education institutions, by raising awareness amongst the members in the academic community on the effects of committing unethical deeds. Also, legal regulations have a significant impact on the maintain and enforce of an ethical climate in higher education institutions and any other institution or organization. This study: (i) starting with concrete problems facing these ethics commissions in Romania, in the backdrop of the legislation in force and the national jurisprudence and (ii) taking into account the actions taken by the authors, during the period of 2019-2021, to solve these problems, (iii) propose a useful model of actions for all those ethics committees that find themselves in similar situations. The proposed model of action follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, but in seven steps. In this cycle, the final step, the seventh, may be the first in case of partially solved of the previously ethical issues identified. The presented vision of the ESC's activity opens up new directions of research, at least in terms of conducting comparative studies either on the role and place of these commissions or on the related legislation and even finding new solutions to the problems presented.
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Law, Transilvania University of Bra?ov, Bra?ov, Romania

  • Faculty of Law, Transilvania University of Bra?ov, Bra?ov, Romania

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