Abstract
The chapter aims to decipher some aspects (of form and content) of the codes of ethics that are present and in force within the representative academic communities in Romania. The main thesis is that in the Romanian university system there is still no unitary practice in respecting the norms of academic conduct, on the background of implicit university autonomy, which can explain some negative consequences recorded throughout the social life, from the pre-university education system to the decision-making structures.
TopVisibility
The first thing we wanted to research was the visibility of documents on ethics, deontology, and academic integrity, and by seeing both the aspects of the actual existence of the documents in question1, and the ease with which they can be “discovered” in the arborescence of an institutional site (http://www.unibuc.ro/n/organizare/comisia-de-etica/Integritate.php). We find, however, the “Code of Ethics of the University” under the sign of “public information” (UB, n.d.) and it is absolutely commendable to present it directly in the form of a direct, easy to open and lecture link, rather than a .pdf document (as we will see it is custom) hard to download, sometimes scanned at a poor quality and not acknowledge by anyone (no stamp, no signature).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Deontology: A branch of ethics and integrating part of a profession, which provides guidance to the professional on the desirable or undesirable behaviors in exercising his/her profession.
Transparency: An ethical value whose achievement involves providing precise and complete information on the activity of an institution, and on the decisions of the institutions’ representative that could, in any way, affect the public.
Academic Integrity: An ethical value that should guide the scholars’ behavior to respect the rules of good practice, to be honest, to avoid misconduct or conflict of interests, and to be consistent with their own moral consciousness.