@misc{cogprints6740, editor = {Forrest Shull and Dag Sj{\o}berg and Janice A. Singer}, title = {A Practical Guide to Ethical Research Involving Humans}, author = {Norman G. Vinson and Janice A. Singer}, publisher = {Springer}, year = {2008}, pages = {229--256}, journal = {Guide to Advanced Empirical Software Engineering}, keywords = {Research ethics, software engineering, human subjects research}, url = {http://cogprints.org/6740/}, abstract = {The popularity of empirical methods in software engineering research is on the rise. Surveys, experiments, metrics, case studies, and field studies are examples of empirical methods used to investigate both software engineering processes and products. The increased application of such methods has also brought about an increase in discussions about adapting these methods to the particularities of software engineering. In contrast, the ethical issues raised by empirical methods have received little attention in the software engineering literature. In this chapter, we introduce four ethics principles of primary importance for conducting ethical research. We additionally discuss and provide examples of applying these principles in the context of ethics review. } }