Ethics in Undergraduate Research: A Practical Guide for the Student Scientist

Ethics in Psychological Research is a brief, practical guide for student researchers and their mentors to answer ethical questions and navigate issues of institutional policies and academic freedom. Authors Daniel P. Corts and Holly E. Tatum guide readers in identifying, preventing, mitigating, and resolving ethical issues in research using a unique ethical framework. Each of the standalone chapters  provide real-life examples of ethical questions, a description of scholarly work on the matter, and suggestions for how to address similar problems should they arise in the researcher’s own work. The book makes for a succinct and easy-to-use reference for any student conducting research in the behavioral sciences.

Daniel Corts earned a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Tennessee and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the teaching of psychology at Furman University. He has been at Augustana College for 17 years where he has stayed busy mentoring student research. Dan’s work in supervising independent research, mentoring senior capstones, and bringing students into his lab has led to a number of publications and over 100 conference presentations. In addition, he works with various public, k-12 educational agencies to acquire and evaluate grants.  These education projects have allowed Dan’s students to see how the research methods they practice in the lab can be applied in practical situations as well. Dan is an active member of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and recently completed his term as President of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. Dan’s most significant publication experience is as coauthor of the Introductory Psychology text, Psychological Science: Modeling Scientific Literacy (2e, Pearson) with Mark Krause. After a day of musing about methodology and ethics with his students, he enjoys spending time with his family where his kids, Jonah  and Sophie, have proclaimed such topics off-limits.

Holly Tatum is the Mary Sabel Girard ‘34 Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Psychology Department at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She teaches undergraduate courses in experimental, research methods, tests and measurements, gender, and health psychology as well as the senior capstone course. Holly’s research interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her recent work has examined the effect of different types of honor codes on academic integrity. As a proponent of undergraduate research, Holly has co-authored book chapters on research-based capstone courses and summer research programs for undergraduates. Holly regularly participates in the Randolph College Summer Research Program supervising undergraduates conducting research. She also involves students in her own research as assistants and collaborators.  These projects have led to numerous presentations at national conferences, a book chapter, and three peer-reviewed journal articles with undergraduate co-authors. Holly earned her PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Tennessee.