American Association for State and Local History (AASLH): Statement of Professional Standards and Ethics
http://www.aaslh.org/ethics.htm
This Statement is designed to guide the diverse membership of the AASLH. Issues such as conflict of interest, revenue producing activities and intellectual freedom are covered.

American Historical Association (AHA):

• Statement on Plagiarism
  http://www.theaha.org/standard_02.htm
  This AHA Statement on Plagiarism is taken from the 2002 Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, which was published in February 2002 by the AHA.
  
  
• Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct
  http://www.theaha.org/pubs/standard.htm
  The Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct was developed by the AHA Professional Division and was published in February 2002. It is designed to provide uniformity to the principles that guide historians.
  

Code of Ethics for Historians in Australia
http://www.historians.org.au/Code.pdf
The Australian Council of Professional Historians Association (ACPHA) endorsed this Code of Ethics document in August 2001. As a condition of membership in ACPHA, members must follow the highest standards of "professionalism, integrity and scholarship" as outlined in the Code.

Ethical Guidelines for the Historian

• Historical Perspectives Ethics Page
  http://www.historicalperspectives.com/ethics.htm
  Historical Perspectives is a company that provides research services to business, public and private organizations and educational institutions. The Code of Ethics posted at this site originally appeared in The Public Historian, Winter 1986.
  

• National Council on Public History (NCPH)
  http://www.ncph.org/code_of_ethics.htm
  NCPH is dedicated to advancing the "professionalism of public history and advocating enhanced public and governmental support for historical programs". Due to high demand, NCPH placed this Code of Ethics on their Web site.
  

• Oral History Ethical and Legal Considerations
  http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~ccfriday/tools/Oralguide.htm
  Chris Friday, a history professor at Western Washington University, has adapted the information on this site from the OHA Evaluation Guidelines. Friday's version includes information on the responsibility to interviewees, responsibility to the public and to the profession, interview conduct guidelines, the transfer of interview to archival repository and educator and student guidelines.
  
  
• Oral History Assistance
  http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~ccfriday/tools/OralAssist.htm
  Additional tools that may be helpful to oral historians are also available at Friday's site.
  

Oral History Society: Ethical Guidelines
http://www.oralhistory.org.uk/ethics/ethics.html
The Oral History Society, a national and international organization "dedicated to the collection and preservation of oral history" has posted guidelines that outline the interviewer's responsibilities before, during and after the interview. Responsibilities of sponsoring institutions are also documented.

Organization of American Historians (OAH)
http://www.oah.org/pubs/index.html
OAH doesn't have one specific ethics document available at their site. What they do have are several statements and policy papers on issues like exhibit standards and bioethical issues.

Sharing History: Developing Codes of Ethics
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/car/kip4/17.html
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have often been neglected in Australian histories. This article, posted by the Reconciliation and Social Justice Library, suggests that historians working with Australian colonial history may want to develop guidelines that emphasize the rights of the people and communities being studied.

Society for History in the Federal Government: Principles and Standards for Federal Historical Programs
http://shfg.org/tpublications.html
A subcommittee of the Federal Programs Committee drafted this set of principles and standards to guide the actions of government officials involved in historical research. General principles and specific applications like collecting historical records, conducting historical research and using oral evidence are addressed.

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• As Historian's Fame Grows, So Does Attention to Sources
  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60916FB355D0C728DDDA80894DA404482
  Is Stephen Ambrose's prolific style of writing to blame for the instances of improperly cited material in his works? After the success of his book "D-Day" in 1994, everything changed for Ambrose. His "sins of omission" are debated in this New York Times article.
  
  
• Did Ambrose Write Wild Blue, Or Just Edit It
  http://www.forbes.com/home/2002/02/27/0227ambrose.html
  Forbes.com published this article on February 27, 2002, and claims that the plagiarism problems, especially with the Stephen Ambrose book, "Wild Blue", may be more prevalent than originally thought. Additional articles on this and other plagiarism scandals can be found at the end of this story.
  
  
• How the Stephen Ambrose Story Developed
  http://hnn.us/articles/504.html
  Stories about Stephen Ambrose's plagiarism allegations first came to the surface on January 4, 2002. At that time, Fred Barnes reported in the Weekly Standard that phrases and sentences found in Ambrose's "Wild Blue" were taken directly from Thomas Childers' "Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II". The History News Network staff has posted this and other stories as more plagiarism incidents came under the spotlight.
  
  
• In Defense of Stephen Ambrose
  http://www.stephenambrose.com/defense.html
  Richard Jensen, emeritus professor of history at the University of Chicago, believes Stephen Ambrose's critics have been overly critical. This article, posted on Ambrose's personal Web page, dismisses the plagiarism allegations against the prolific history author, and states that according to the American Historical Association's standards, Ambrose is not guilty of plagiarism.
  
  
• Integrity and History
  http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2002feb/dichtl.html
  John Dichtl discusses the plagiarism scandals involving historians like Stephen Ambrose, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Michael Bellesiles in this February 2002 Organization of American Historians newsletter. He also suggests that these ethical issues should be used to openly discuss plagiarism and how it affects historians.
  
  
• Plagiarism in the News
  http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/Workshops/PlagiarismCases.htm
  The Bridgewater College (VA) Online Writing Lab has designed this site to help foster discussions on the ethical use of sources by writers. Numerous articles on plagiarism issues, including the Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose scandals, have been compiled and posted at this site by Lab staff.
  
  
• Stephen Ambrose And the Rights Of Passage
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A28869-2002Jan10
  This January 11, 2002 Washington Post article questions whether or not the Stephen Ambrose incident was plagiarism or just sloppy work. It also acknowledges the tension that exists between academic historians and more popular ones like Ambrose.
  

• Taking a Page Out of Another's Book
  http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0131/p11s02-idgn.html
  Are the plagiarism issues that surround historians like Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin merely a high tech problem? This Christian Science Monitor article explores whether or not the ease and convenience of the Internet and other computer capabilities contribute to some the issues facing non-fiction writers.
  
  
• Two Accuse Stephen Ambrose, Popular Historian, of Plagiarism
  http://college3.nytimes.com/guests/articles/2002/01/05/892999.xml
  This January 5, 2002 article from The New York Times examines best-selling author, Stephen Ambrose, and the allegations that he did not give proper attribution to copied passages that were included in his works.
  

Doris Kearns Goodwin

• Historian Says Borrowing Was Wider Than Known
  http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/23/books/23BOOK.html
  A February 23, 2002 New York Times report on the Doris Kearns Goodwin scandal indicating that Goodwin and her research assistants uncovered more citation problems in her books than originally disclosed.
  
  
• How the Goodwin Story Developed
  http://hnn.us/articles/590.html
  The History News Network staff has compiled a list of articles surrounding the Doris Kearns Goodwin plagiarism scandal and has posted them on their Web site. Follow the Goodwin saga from when it first appeared on the Weekly Standard Web site to its recent developments. New information and articles are added as updates occur.
  

• Integrity and History
  http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2002feb/dichtl.html
  John Dichtl discusses the plagiarism scandals involving historians like Stephen Ambrose, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Michael Bellesiles in this February 2002 Organization of American Historians newsletter. He also suggests that these ethical issues should be used to openly discuss plagiarism and how it affects historians.
  
  
• Is Doris Kearns Goodwin a Hypocrite?
  http://hnn.us/articles/522.html
  In the past, Doris Kearns Goodwin has accused other authors of using her works without proper attribution. Now, Goodwin and her own works are being scrutinized for the same violations.
  
  The original publication of this article appeared in the January 28, 2002 issue of the Weekly Standard, and can be found at http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/000/793ihurw.asp
  
  
• A Legal Remedy For Plagiarism
  http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20020207.html
  Julie Hilden, an attorney and freelance writer, wrote this February 7, 2002 article that addresses some of the questions underlying the Ambrose/Goodwin scandals. One area Hilden explores is whether or not the law provides any remedies in plagiarism cases of this nature.
  
  
• Plagiarism in the News
  http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/Workshops/PlagiarismCases.htm
  The Bridgewater College (VA) Online Writing Lab has designed this site to help foster discussions on the ethical use of sources by writers. Numerous articles on plagiarism issues, including the Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose scandals, have been compiled and posted at this site by Lab staff.
  
  

• The Bellesiles Plagiarism Controversy
  http://hnn.us/articles/691.html
  Emory University launched a formal investigation into faculty member and historian, Michael Bellesiles' award-winning book, "Arming America". This site follows the development of the story as the investigation progressed.
  

  Updates on this scandal are reported in of The Chronicle of Higher Education (must be subscribed to The Chronicle of Higher Education to access):
  August 23, 2002
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002082302n.htm

  September 26, 2002
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/09/2002092607n.htm

  October 25, 2002: Bellesiles Resigns From Emory After University Report Questions His Research for Book on Guns
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/10/2002102801n.htm
  On Friday, October 25, 2002, Michael Bellesiles, history professor at Emory University resigned from his position. It will become effective at the end of December. His resignation coincided with the release of Emory's investigation report into the Bellesiles controversy. Findings documented in the report state that Bellesiles' "carelessness in the gathering and presentation of archival records" raised questions about his "scholarly integrity".

  December 16, 2002: Columbia U. Rescinds Bancroft Prize Awarded to Michael Bellesiles for Book on Gun Ownership
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/12/2002121604n.htm
  Michael Bellesiles, a history professor at Emory University, was awarded the Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy for his book, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture in 2001. On Friday, December 13, 2002, Columbia University rescinded the award because trustees determined that Bellesiles' book "'had not and does not meet' the standards associated with the prestigious prize." This article from the December 16, 2002 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education details the events that led up to this decision.
  

• Harvard Syllabus Appears on U of West Georgia Web site
  http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=161369
  The Harvard Crimson published this story about an assistant professor at the University of Western Georgia. This article alleges that the professor copied and posted on his Web site a lecture outline for a class on the history of Cuba by Harvard Professor Jorge Dominguez without any attribution.
  
  
• Historical Association Will No Longer Investigate Allegations of Wrongdoing (must be subscribed to the Chronicle of Higher Education to access)
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/05/2003050702n.htm
  Several high profile plagiarism and scholarly misconduct allegations have plagued the field of history in recent times, but the American Historical Association (AHA) believes that the focus should be on more important issues like education. The AHA announced that the organization will no longer investigate any acts of possible misconduct by historians due to limited resources and lack of power to impose sanctions. Reactions to this decision plus ethics policies in place in other professional organizations are addressed in this article from the May 7, 2003 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Update:

• Historians Shift Policy on Plagiarism
  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-History-Plagiarism.html
  

 

UPDATE (1/10/05): The annual conference of the American Historical Association was held in Seattle over the weekend. It may not have been noted on the conference program, but one issue on the minds of many conference attendees was the association's position on academic integrity violations. Conference details and a brief discussion about this issue can be found in "Archives, Outreach, and Ethics Dominate the Agenda at Historians' Annual Meeting." The full text of the article can be accessed in the January 10, 2005 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education at http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/01/2005011008n.htm. (must be subscribed to the Chronicle of Higher Education to access)


• History Fraud and the Seduction of Ideas
  http://hnn.us/articles/568.html
  Does scholarly peer pressure really keep dishonesty in check? Jerome Sternstein, Professor Emeritus of History at Brooklyn College CUNY, addresses this question and discusses the possibility that more obscure works like, S. Walter Poulshock's "The Two Parties and the Tariff in the 1880's" can come into question along with historical works written by best-selling authors.
• In Wake of Controversies, Historians Debate Causes and Prevalence of Plagiarism (must be subscribed to The Chronicle of Higher Education to access)
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/01/2003010603n.htm
  A panel discussion at the annual conference of the American Historical Association entitled, "Plagiarism: What's so Bad About It, Anyway?" attracted a much larger crowd than expected. This January 6, 2003 Chronicle of Higher Education article covers the conversations at this session and addresses some of the plagiarism scandals that have surfaced in this history profession during the past year.


• Naval Academy Investigates Plagiarism Allegation Against Historian (must be subscribed to The Chronicle of Higher Education to access)
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/06/2003060202n.htm
  Brian VanDeMark, a history professor at the United States Naval Academy, published a book titled Pandora's Keeper: Nine Men and the Atomic Bomb, and now there are allegations that sections of the book may have been plagiarized. An article that appeared in the May 31, 2003 edition of The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/31/books/31BOMB.html) indicates that VanDeMark's book contains "more than 30 uncredited passages that are identical or nearly identical" to those found in other publications. VanDeMark's response and information about the academy's investigation are outlined in this June 2, 2003 article from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

• Scotching Plagiarism--History News Network
  http://hnn.us/articles/633.html
  Robert Bruce, a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote what has been considered to be the definitive work on Alexander Graham Bell, discusses an incident with another work on Bell by Scottish author James Mackay.

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• Don't Talk to Humans: The Crackdown on Social Science Research
  http://csf.colorado.edu/envtecsoc/2000/msg00403.html
  This September 2000 Lingua Franca article discusses John Wilmoth, a demographer at the University of California at Berkeley, and the research project that almost cost him tenure. Other examples of research projects that involved human subjects and faced similar stumbling blocks are included.

• The History News Network
  http://historynewsnetwork.org/
  This site is a great place to explore interesting stories and controversies surrounding the field of history.

• Holocaust Survivor Memoir Exposed as a Fraud
  http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v17/v17n5p15_Weber.html
  The Journal of Historical Review reports on Binjamin Wilkomirski's award-winning memoir about his life in a Jewish ghetto in Latvia during World War II that was exposed as a literary hoax.
  

• Truth and Memory
  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107990614-27330,00.html
  Time Magazine reports on the 1995 award-winning book, "Fragments: Memories of a Childhood, 1939-1948" which documented the author, Binjamin Wilkomirski's experiences as a child growing up in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. It wasn't until 1998 when a reporter from the Swiss newsmagazine, Die Weltwoche, was interviewing Wilkomirski that doubts about the book's authenticity surfaced.
  
  
• U. S. Universities: The Case of Professor Joseph Ellis
  http://www.stanford.edu/group/wais/universities_josephellis62201.htm
  This piece explores the role that the American academic system plays in situations like the Joseph Ellis case at Mount Holyoke College. The author proposes the theory that the mass lecture structure found in U. S. classrooms may be to blame for professors embellishing their presentations in order to engage their students.

• Why are Academics Ducking the Ellis Case?
  http://www.oah.org/pubs/nl/2001aug/gorn.html
  Elliot Gorn, professor of history at Purdue University, has written this much cited article that looks at some of the reasons why Joseph Ellis felt the need to fabricate his personal history and convey these untruths to his students while teaching a class on the 1960s. Gorn also discusses why it's problematic that some professors and historians feel sympathetic toward Ellis and his situation. This story originally appeared in the July 20, 2001 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Anthropology Ethics

Art Ethics

Bioethics. See also the Biotechnology Web Page (UIUC)

Business Ethics

Ethics Case Studies

Journalism

Plagiarism

Research Ethics

Social Science Ethics: A Bibliography

Sociology Ethics

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Created by Sharon Stoerger MLS, MBA
©September 30, 2002
Updated January 11, 2005