Scientific research and professions: The principle values of ethical research in the National Autonomous University of Mexico

The porpoise of this paper is to present the process and the principal results obtained with an interview guide, applied in the second semester of 2009, to the forty program coordinators of the postgraduate studies (Master and PHD) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in relation to a direct question about the principle values of ethical research. The forty programs cover all the knowledge areas in which this university classifies its postgraduate studies: Physics - Mathematics and Engineering; Biological and Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts. The multiple answers of the coordinators were classified in 14 empirical categories: Search for truth and knowledge, Research ethics, Honesty, Respect, Social commitment, To have a critical and auto-critical position, Dedication, Responsibility, Team work, Communication, Tolerance, Companionship, Integrity and Autonomy. These results are part of the Research Project about Professional Ethics of UNAM. It refers principally to the third phase. The two previous phases were about postgraduate students and professors, also in relation to professional ethics.