Data and other NAFSA Presentations Available from the DAAD

The DAAD has made available via their "News from DAAD New York" weekly newsletter (http://www.daad.org/?p=daadnews ~ if you don't already, you may want to subscribe) several presentations from the NAFSA conference. The first two presentations entitled "Capacity Building for U.S. Students at Foreign Universities" and "News and Updates from North America" have some interesting data tables and charts. Additionally, a presentation from Brian Whalen of the Forum on Education Abroad entitled "Ethical Practices in Study Abroad and Why it Matters to You" is also available and may be of interest to many.

Perceptions of Ethical Problems with Scientific Journal Peer Review: An Exploratory Study

I found a recent article in Science and Engineering Ethics on the ethics of peer reviewers to be very interesting and thought some readers might also find it to be interesting. I have included a citation for the article as well as the abstract below:



Resnik, D., Gutierrez-Ford, & Peddada, S. (2008). Perceptions of Ethical Problems with Scientific Journal Peer Review: An Exploratory Study. Science and Engineering Ethics, (14)3, 305-310.



Abstract: This article reports the results of an anonymous survey of researchers at a government research institution concerning their perceptions about ethical problems with journal peer review. Incompetent review was the most common ethical problem reported by the respondents, with 61.8% (SE = 3.3%) claiming to have experienced this at some point during peer review. Bias (50.5%, SE = 3.4%) was the next most common problem. About 22.7% (SE = 2.8%) of respondents said that a reviewer had required them to include unnecessary references to his/her publication(s), 17.7% (SE = 2.6%) said that comments from reviewers had included
personal attacks, and 9.6% (SE = 2.0%) stated that reviewers had delayed publication to publish a paper on the same topic. Two of the most serious violations of peer review ethics, breach of confidentiality (6.8%, SE = 1.7%) and using ideas, data, or methods without permission (5%, SE = 1.5%) were perceived less often than the other problems. We recommend that other investigators follow up on our exploratory research with additional studies on the ethics of peer review. (Springer Link)

Forum on Education Abroad Annual Conference

A little over two weeks ago, the Forum on Education Abroad held its 4th annual conference in Boston on April 2-4, 2008. My understanding is that there were over 700 registered participants which exceeded expectations. I think that the Forum’s leadership and development of a Code of Ethics since the New York and Connecticut Attorney Generals began their investigations into study abroad early last autumn was a leading factor in the overwhelming attendance. All the staff of the Forum on Education Abroad and all of the colleagues who volunteered their time in planning and working the conference deserve a big round of applause.

Conference sessions on standards of good practice and the code of ethics were prevalent throughout the conference. All conference attendees also received hard copies of the Code of Ethics for Education Abroad (2008) and the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, 3rd Edition (2008).

Forum on Education Abroad Releases Code of Ethics for Education Abroad

On Monday, March 3, 2008 the Forum on Education Abroad released its Code of Ethics for Education Abroad. According to the Forum, their website received over 6,000 hits within the first two days of their release.

The Code of Ethics is divided into the following four sections:

Section I Preamble

Section II Ethical Principles for Education Abroad

Section III Ethical Guidelines: Examples of Ethical Best Practices for Education Abroad

Section IV The Forum Compass: Four Questions to Guide Ethical Decision Making in Education Abroad

The Forum Compass is especially interesting. The Compass’ Four Questions to Guide Ethical Decision Making in Education Abroad are:
1. Is it true, fair and transparent?
2. Does it put the interests of the students first and contribute to their intellectual and personal growth?
3. Does it reflect the best practices of the field?
4. Does it foster international understanding?

The upcoming Forum on Education Abroad annual conference has devoted several session slots to issues related to ethics and standards of good practice in education abroad. Below is a list of related sessions and the presenters and discussion moderators:

- Ethical Standards and Study Abroad: Case Studies
David Comp, Lester Goodchild, Dennis Gordon, Peter R. Kerrigan, Rosalind Latiner Raby, Michael S. Steinberg

- The Ethics of Advisory Board Service
Laurie Black, Kendall Brostuen, Michael Morrison

- Models of Academic Good Practice: Creating Frameworks to Achieve Optimal Academic Outcomes
Dennis Dutschke, Maryélise Lamet, Sarah McKenzie, David Rudd

- Conducting and Participating in Ethical Site Visits
Bill Clabby, Barbara Rowe, John Wells, Annagene Yucas

- The Forum on Education Abroad's Code of Ethics: Discussion
William Anthony, Andrea Custodi, Michael Morrison, Carolyn Sorkin, Annmarie Whalen

- The Ethics of Approving Programs
Richard Gaulton, Martha Johnson

- The Intersection of the Australian Quality Practices with the Forum Standards
Cynthia Banks, Rob Castle, Jen Nielsen

-The Ethics of Study Abroad Pricing
Stephen DePaul

You can access the Forum’s Code of Ethics for Education Abroad here:
http://www.forumea.org/documents/ForumonEducationAbroadCodeofEthics.pdf