Chemical Ethics

Since chemical research ethics is a relatively new field (at least in terms of instruction), there are few dictionaries and encyclopedias specifically dealing with scientific ethics.  The following may serve as a useful reference for terms or a basic overview of issues in research ethics.  Many basic ethics encyclopedias may contain sections on scientific ethics; it is best to explore what is in your library and check indexes for the encyclopedias.

Medical ethics dictionaries will be only mildly helpful as they often do not address issues of fraud, data tampering, and personal relationships that are of more interest to the chemical research ethicist.  They are better than religious ethics dictionaries, though, and that is why they are included here.  Basic ethics dictionaries often do not contain such vital terms as "misconduct" or "fraud".

Boyd, Kenneth M., Roger Higgs, and Anthony J. Pinching, eds. The New Dictionary of Medical Ethics.  London: BMJ Publishing, 1997. 

Duncan, A.S., G.R. Dunstan, and R.B. Welbourn, eds. Dictionary of Medical Ethics.  New York: Crossroad, 1981. 

Chadwick, Ruth F., ed. Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.  

This four-volume encyclopedia provides pretty balanced coverage of applied ethics issues and discussions.  Of particular interest are the sections titled "Research Ethics", "Science and Engineering Ethics, Overview" and "Scientific Publishing".  Each section has a short bibliography and "related topics" list at the end.