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This study aims to examine the potential of Information Ethics (IE) to serve as a coherent ethical foundation for the library and information science profession (LIS profession).

This study consists of two parts: the first part present IE’s central theses and the main critiques it has received; the second part offers the authors' own evaluation of the theory from the LIS perspective in two steps: (1) assessing its internal consistency by testing its major theses against each other; (2) assessing its utility for resolving frequently debated LIS ethical dilemmas by comparing its solutions with solutions from other ethical theories.

This study finds that IE, consisting of an informational ontology, a fundamental ethical assertion and a series of moral laws, forms a coherent ethical framework and holds promising potential to serve as a theoretical foundation for LIS ethical issues; its inclusion of nonhuman objects as moral patients and its levels of abstraction mechanism proved to be particularly relevant for the LIS profession. This study also shows that, to become more solid an ethical theory, IE needs to resolve some of its internal contradictions and ambiguities, particularly its conceptual conflations between internal correctness, rightness and goodness; between destruction, entropy and evil; and the discrepancy between its deontological ethical assertion and its utilitarian moral laws.

This study alerts LIS professionals to the possibility of having a coherent ethical foundation and the potential of IE in this regard.

This study provides a systemic explication, evaluation and field test of IE from the LIS perspective.

This study aims to examine the determinants of ethical decision-making (EDM) of professional accountants in Sri Lanka, drawing on Rest’s (1986) four-component EDM model. The level of corporate collapses and fraud, coupled with the high level of corruption in Sri Lanka, has highlighted the importance and the timely nature of this research in the EDM processes of Sri Lankan accountants.

Data was collected from a sample of 315 accountants through a questionnaire survey that included four written ethical vignettes and was analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling techniques.

The findings revealed a significant relationship between ethical awareness and ethical judgement, providing support for Rest’s model. However, the study does not support Rest’s model on the direct relationship between ethical judgement and ethical intention. Intrinsic religiosity and moral intensity significantly influenced the ethical awareness of accountants. Several determinants including accountants’ age, education, intrinsic religiosity, organisational ethical culture, familiarity with the professional ethical code and moral intensity influenced ethical judgement. However, the findings did not report any significant relationships between the study’s variables and ethical intention.

The study adds to the existing literature by providing a bigger picture of how various determinants work together in one EDM model and demonstrating that the EDM of accountants is multifaceted. The new finding on an insignificant relationship between ethical judgement and ethical intention implies that the Rest’s EDM process may be mediated and moderated by other constraints blocking accountants’ intention to act due to various pressures in a corrupt society, Sri Lanka, where accountants operate.

This study aims to delve into the perspectives of educators on integrating ChatGPT, an AI language model into management education. In the current research, educators were asked to talk as widely as possible about the perceived benefits, limitations of ChatGPT in management education and strategies to improve ChatGPT for management education. Also, shedding light on what motivates or inhibits them to use ChatGPT in management education in the Indian context.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis commonly uses purposive sampling. In this research, the purpose is to delve into educators’ perspectives on ChatGPT in management education. The data was collected from the universities offering management education in Uttarakhand, India. The final sample size for the study was constrained to 57 educators, reflecting the point of theoretical saturation in data collection.

The present study involved educators discussing the various advantages of using ChatGPT in the context of management education. When educators were interviewed, their responses were categorized into nine distinct sub-themes related to the benefits of ChatGPT in management education. Similarly, when educators were asked to provide their insights on the limitations of using ChatGPT in management education, their responses were grouped into six sub-themes that emerged during the interviews. Furthermore, in the process of interviewing educators about potential strategies to enhance ChatGPT for management education, their feedback was organized into seven sub-themes, reflecting the various approaches suggested by the educators.

In the qualitative study, perceptions and experiences of educators at a certain period are captured. It would be necessary to conduct longitudinal research to comprehend how perceptions and experiences might change over time. The study’s exclusive focus on management education may not adequately reflect the experiences and viewpoints of educators in another discipline. The findings may not be generalizable and applicable to other educational disciplines.

The research has helped in identifying the strengths and limitations of ChatGPT as perceived by educators for management education. Understanding educators’ perceptions and experiences with ChatGPT provided valuable insight into how the tool is being used in real-world educational settings. These insights can guide higher education institutions, policymakers and ChatGPT service providers in refining and improving the ChatGPT tool to better align with the specific needs of management educators.

Amid the rising interest in ChatGPT’s educational applications, a research gap exists in exploring educators’ perspectives on AI tools like ChatGPT. While some studies have addressed its role in fields like medical, engineering, legal education and natural sciences, the context of management education remains underexplored. This study focuses on educators’ experiences with ChatGPT in transforming management education, aiming to reveal its benefits, limitations and factors influencing adoption. As research in this area is limited, educators’ insights can guide higher education institutions, ChatGPT providers and policymakers in effectively implementing ChatGPT in Indian management education.

Nurse leaders are challenged by ethical issues in today’s complex health-care settings. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze key elements of moral distress identified by nurse leaders from health-care systems in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The aim was to develop an understanding of distressing ethical issues nurse leaders face in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.

This descriptive cross-sectional study surveyed a convenience sample of nurse leaders in the USA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The voluntary, anonymous survey also included qualitative questions and was distributed using the Qualtrics® platform. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data in each country was carried out and a comparative analysis identified similarities and differences between the groups of nurse leaders comparing the US data to that from three German-speaking European countries.

The survey was completed by 316 nurse leaders: Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (n = 225) and the USA (n = 91). Similar themes identified as causing all nurse leaders moral distress included a lack of individual and organizational integrity, hierarchical and interprofessional issues, lack of nursing professionalism, patient care/patient safety concerns, finances negatively impacting care and issues around social justice. Within these six themes, there were also differences between the USA and the three German-speaking European countries.

Understanding the experiences associated with distressing ethical situations can allow nurse leaders and organizations to focus on solutions and develop resilience to reduce moral distress in the USA and three German-speaking European countries.

This study aims to observe people’s decisions to commit fraud. This study is important in the current time because it provides insights into the development of fraudulent intentions within individuals.

The information used in this study is derived from semi-structured interviews, conducted with 16 high-ranking officials who are employed in Indonesian local government positions.

The study does not have strong evidence to support prior studies assuming that situational factors or social enablers have direct effects on fraud intentions. As suggested, individual factors which are related to moral reasoning (moral judgment and rationalisation) emerge as a consequence of social enablers. The significant role of that moral reasoning is to rationalise any fraud attempt as permissible conduct. As such, when an individual is capable of legitimising his/her fraud attempt into appropriate self-judgement, s/he is more likely to engage in fraudulent behaviours.

This study offers practical prescriptions in guiding the management to develop strategies to curb fraudulent behaviours. The study suggests that moral cognitive reasoning is found to be a parameter of whether fraud is an acceptable option or not. So, an understanding of observers’ moral reasoning is helpful in predicting the likelihood of fraud within an organisation or in detecting it.

This study provides a different perspective on the psychological pathway to fraud. It becomes a complement work for the fraud triangle to explain fraudulent behaviours. Specifically, it provides crucial insights into the underlying motivations that lead individuals to accept invitations to engage in fraudulent activities.

This study aims to examine the perceptions and evaluations of Muslim COVID-19 survivors and health workers regarding the halal, business and ethical attributes of hospitals during their interactions related to COVID-19 treatment.

Descriptive qualitative research with semi-structured online interviews was used to gather insights from COVID-19 survivors and health workers who treated COVID-19 patients. The findings were then compared with existing literature on hospital services and Sharia attributes.

The study found that patients and health-care workers in hospitals are concerned about whether the hospital follows Sharia law, the quality of health-care and hospital services and the ethical conduct of hospital staff. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when patients are more anxious about religious conduct and the afterlife.

Hospitals need to address halal attributes in all aspects of their services for Muslim patients and business attributes such as standard health-care quality, service quality and ethical attributes. Participants indicated that when these needs are met, they are more likely to revisit the hospital and recommend it to others.

This study contributes to understanding the expectations of Muslim patients regarding hospital services that meet Islamic ethical and business requirements. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study broadens the understanding of how to better serve Muslim customers.

This study aims to investigate the association between cognitive moral development (CMD) and unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB) by taking purchasing employees as research subjects. The moderating effect of perceived leader’s UPB is also explored.

Data were collected through a two-stage questionnaire survey on purchasing employees in companies across a spectrum of industries in Taiwan, and 492 purchasing employees were analysed in the study.

Research findings reveal that employees at the conventional level of CMD are more likely to conduct UPB than those at the pre-conventional and post-conventional levels. Perceived leader’s UPB will moderate the association between CMD and UPB. Employees’ UPB is strongly associated with their CMD when they perceive their leaders as being likely to perform UPB.

Although a variety of factors influencing UPB have been proposed in the literature, none of them have analysed the association between CMD and UPB. However, CMD is one important factor affecting ethical decision-making. The present study can promote further understanding of the role of CMD in UPB and contribute to a growing body of research on CMD and UPB.

The architectural profession faces an increasingly complex ethical landscape. In recent decades, the ethical foundations for architecture – formally defined in professional codes of conduct and reflected in regulatory frameworks – have expanded to incorporate imperatives derived from environmental and social responsibilities. The present research examines how these expanding ethical expectations are reflected in, and supported by, recent research about architectural ethics.

Analysis is based on a systematic review of recent research (2002–2023) focussing on ethical values and associated behaviours in the architectural profession. The review identifies 37 research articles (from a starting set of 2,483 articles), which are analysed empirically and then qualitatively to draw out views around three types of ethical behaviour. The paper then discusses how these findings align thematically with the evolving ethical needs of architectural practitioners (as defined in the professional codes of ethics and conduct of the RIBA in the UK, AIA in Australia and the AIA in the USA).

While business ethics remains the focus of past research, there has been a rise in research about ethics and social and environmental factors. The content of professional codes reflects this shift, setting the conditions for architects to aspire to increased expectations of environmental and social responsibility.

This article undertakes the first systematic review of recent research about architectural ethics and its alignment with the content of contemporary professional codes. Organised thematically, recent research about ethical values and associated behaviours can offer guidance for the evolving ethical needs of architects.

This study aims to understand how midwifery students view ethical rights concerning the usage of reproductive technologies.

A series of focus groups were conducted with midwifery students who were asked to discuss four novel scenarios highlighting some of the most controversial issues on the ethics of assisted reproductive technologies. The sample consisted of third-year students studying at the Department of Midwifery of a university in the fall semester of the 2020–2021 academic year. In total, 60 students aged between 20 and 23 participated in the study (mean age 21.5 years).

Four scenarios that may be encountered in the use of assisted reproductive techniques were presented to the students. These scenarios were about IVF treatment, using the preimplantation gender identification technique, surrogate mother and using frozen zygotes. Four themes were identified from the analysis of the focus group data related to all four scenarios. These themes were: female reproduction, sex selection, surrogacy and reproductive cloning.

This study reveals what midwifery students consider essential components of assisted reproduction techniques, focusing on the professional attributes of shared decision-making. The results suggest that student midwives are sensitive to the range of ethical dilemmas associated with the increased use of technology in human reproduction, and construct distinct bound arise in relation to what is considered of benefit or good to the mother, parents, the child and to society. They also expressed their opposition to the excessive use of technological intervention, preferring instead to maintain a more naturalistic approach to reproduction.

This paper revolves around the central question: is it possible to do “proper ethnography” without complete participant observation? The authors draw upon a student's experiences of negotiating National Health Service (NHS) ethical approval requirements and access into the student's research field, a British NHS hospital and having to adapt data collection methods for the student's doctoral research. The authors examine some of the positional (insider/outsider, native gone academic), methodological (long-term/interrupted, overt/covert) and contextual challenges that threatened the student's ethnographic study.

The paper draws on reflexive vignettes written during the student's doctorate, capturing significant moments and issues within the student's research.

The authors highlight the temporal, practical, ethical and emotional challenges faced in attempting an ethnography of nursing culture within a highly regulated research environment. Having revealed the student's experience of researching this specific culture and finding ways to overcome these challenges, the authors conclude that the contemporary ethnographer needs to be increasingly flexible, opportunistic and somewhat covert.

The authors argue that it is possible to do “proper” and “good” ethnography without complete participant observation – it is not the method, the observation, that is the essence of ethnography, but whether the researcher achieves real understanding through thick descriptions of the culture that explain “what is really going on here”.

The authors hope to assist doctoral students engage in “good” ethnographic research within (potentially) risk-averse host organisations, such as the NHS, whilst being located in neo-liberal performative academic organisations (Foster, 2017; McCann et al., 2020). The authors wish to contribute to the journal to ensure good ethnography is accessible and achievable to (particularly) doctoral researchers who have to navigate complex challenges exacerbated by pressures in both the host and home cultures. The authors wish to see doctoral researchers survive and thrive in producing good organisational ethnographies to ensure such research is published (Watson 2012), cognisant of the pressures and targets to publish in top-ranked journals (Jones et al. 2020).

Having identified key challenges, the authors demonstrate how these can be addressed to ensure ethnography remains accessible to and achievable for, doctoral researchers, particularly in healthcare organisations. The authors conclude that understanding can be attained in what they propose as a hybrid form of “propportune” ethnography that blends the aim of the essence of “proper” anthropological approaches with the “opportunism” of contemporary data collection solutions.