Ethical issues in recreation research as perceived by recreation, park resources, and leisure services faculty

This survey explored selected ethical issues related to research and publication within the recreation, park resources, and leisure services profession. A national random sample of recreation, park resources, and leisure services academicians at graduate degree-granting programs completed a 32-item survey, assessing 21 scenarios addressing ethical issues in research and publishing. Selected ethical issues examined included (a) authorship, (b) conflict of interest, (c) plagiarism, (d) fraud, (e) duplication, (f) fragmentation, (g) collegiality, (h) participant protection, and (i) the use of Institutional Review Boards. Standard descriptive statistical analysis indicated that considerable variance exists among recreation, park resources, and leisure services academicians in relation to the ethical status of scenarios addressing the aforementioned areas of research conduct/misconduct. Of the 21 scenarios analyzed, only three were considered ethical and seven unethical by a majority of respondents.