Abstract

This Forum is the fourth in the annual series initiated by Kazakhstani students and scholars. The main goal of the annual meeting is to bring together scholars, educators, emerging researchers, PhD and Master students interested and engaged in study, research and scholarly work across the various disciplines in Kazakhstan and Eurasian countries. The Forum provides a great opportunity for discussing contemporary issues, exchanging views, sharing ideas, advancement of learning and networking. Researchers in all fields are expected to operate under a code of ethics. Some parts of such codes focus on the integrity of the research itself: on issues of honesty, plagiarism, declaration of interests etc. In science and technology there are often issues of intellectual property and the ownership of research outcomes. When research involves animals, e.g. in medical research, there are requirements governing their humane treatment. When human subjects are involved, there is a whole battery of obligations related to the principle of respect for persons in general, but also obligations arising out of sensitivity to issues such as gender, race and disability. How too are researchers to handle the requirement for criticality in contexts unaccustomed to accepting publicly accessible critical commentary on matters of policy or the evaluation of practice?