Missing ethics: A proposal for responsible conduct of research training in political science in interdisciplinary comparison.
Science depends on trust, integrity and accountability. Yet compared to related disciplines, political science has been slow to institutionalize responsible conduct of research (RCR) education. This paper addresses that gap by presenting an empirical audit of RCR training across the top 50 political...
| Publicado en: | International Political Science Review Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 543 - 556 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Sep2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195958035&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195958035 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01925121 IPC jtl: International Political Science Review issn: 01925121 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2026 vid: 47 iid: 4 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 195958035 10.1177/01925121251378171 ppf: 543 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: Missing ethics: A proposal for responsible conduct of research training in political science in interdisciplinary comparison. aug: au: Chekenya, Nixon S affil: Texas Tech University, USA su: Research ethics Ethics education Research integrity Graduate education Interdisciplinary research Political science education sug: subj: Research ethics Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools Ethics education Research integrity Graduate education Interdisciplinary research Political science education keyword: graduate students political science Responsible conduct of research training graduate students political science Responsible conduct of research training ab: Science depends on trust, integrity and accountability. Yet compared to related disciplines, political science has been slow to institutionalize responsible conduct of research (RCR) education. This paper addresses that gap by presenting an empirical audit of RCR training across the top 50 political science graduate programmes in the United States. The findings reveal that while methods and quantitative training are near-universal, formal ethics instruction is rare or entirely absent in most programmes. Drawing on lessons from economics, psychology and biomedical sciences, I show how the lack of structured RCR education threatens the credibility, reproducibility and ethical integrity of political science research. I then propose a modular, credit-bearing RCR course tailored to the methodological and normative challenges faced by political scientists, including fieldwork, experimental design, authorship norms and data transparency. By embedding RCR into graduate curricula, political science can better prepare future scholars to navigate ethical dilemmas, prevent misconduct, and align with evolving expectations from funders and journals. This article extends the recent work of Chekenya and Misra by focusing specifically on graduate education in political science, and offers practical guidance for departments, professional associations and educators committed to cultivating a culture of ethical research. JEL Classification: A11, B41, Q10 pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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