Clinicians have ethical codes, should scientists have them too?

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Clinicians have ethical codes, should scientists have them too?

Sir Joseph Rotblat, who first championed the call for a moral code of conduct directed at scientists, premised his ideas upon the foundations of the Hippocratic Oath1. Pertaining to the ethical practice of medicine and taken by graduates of medical school, the oath was designed, in part, to recognise the duty that the doctor has to the patient; to safeguard the autonomy, freedom from discrimination and standard of healthcare that the patient receives. In an age of rapidly progressing scientific development, limited largely only by vision and time, it must be considered that, as the doctor has a duty to his patient perhaps so too does the scientist have an obligation to the scientific community and society as a whole. Moreover, as public mistrust of the scientific world continues to grow, stimulated by incidents such as Wakefield et al study into the MMR vaccine, it seems increasingly necessary to formalize a code of conduct aimed at encouraging integrity and good practice whilst at the same time fostering an understanding of ethical and moral awareness2,3. To this end, a form of ethical code could provide a framework, inside of the law,