Ethical Regulation of Academia in Academic Ethics Matters: Comprehending the Bucharest Declaration Efficiency

Abstract

The paper is focused on the analysis of the contemporary academia normative regulation grounds. Leading transformations in value vulnerable spheres of academia are exposed;
main components of ethical regulation in academia and their meaning in prospects of the contemporary world challenges are defined. Main tendencies of the development of academia are comprehended in the light of the Bucharest Declaration Concerning Ethical Values and Principles for Higher Education in the Europe Region (2004). The transformation factors in comprehension of the university as the public institution place and role in prospects of the Declaration are the following: the higher education massivization, the education and science integrity, enlargement of university social functions. The backbone ethical values of academia are: fairness, trust, justice, respect, responsibility, accountability. The paper argues that the analysis of the contemporary academia transformations factors stipulate special issues of ethical monitoring and ethical audit, and in broader sense — general issues of ethical regulation. Ethical regulation of academia is the value-normative activity, within which members of academic community establish professional rules and follow them in daily life. It is mentioned in the paper that ethical rules are usually fixed in ethical documents. Ethical documents vary in imperative-prescriptive power, measure of international support, specifics of sanctions with the help of which their effectiveness is provided. Imperative-prescriptive power of the ethical code and the declaration is analyzed in the paper. Special attention is paid to the Uppsala Code of Ethics for Scientists (1984), to follow the norms of which is mandatory for academicians. It is stressed in the paper that universities, while striving for the international recognition and collaboration have to keep within the ethical standards for professional activity. Such situation obliges ethicists to join in resolving the topical questions of the European academic space and implementation of ethical regulation procedures in Ukrainian academic space.