Home About the Academy of Management Ethics Code of Ethics

AOM Code of Ethics

Updated August 2023

Introduction
Preamble
General Principles
Professional Principles
Ethical Standards

* “AOM member(s)” generally refers to members of the Academy of Management and non-members participating in AOM activities.

Introduction

The “Academy of Management (AOM) Code of Ethics” sets forth (1) principles that underlie the professional responsibilities and conduct of AOM’s members and (2) enforced ethical standards that apply to members in official AOM roles and those participating in AOM-sponsored activities.¹ Nonmembers who participate in AOM activities (e.g., authors, job seekers, etc.) also agree to adhere to the enforced ethical standards and to abide by the rules and policies about the specific AOM activities they engage in.

AOM’s “Code of Ethics” consists of: Introduction, Preamble, General Principles, Professional Principles, and Ethical Standards. A separate document, the “Academy of Management Code of Ethics Policies and Procedures for Handling Charges of Ethical Standards Violations,” accompanies the “Code of Ethics.”

The Preamble, General Principles, and Professional Principles set aspirational goals to guide AOM members toward the highest ideals of research, teaching, practice, and service. Although these goals are not enforceable, AOM members should consider them to arrive at ethical courses of action. The principles (general and professional) are guidelines for everyday professional activities, constituting normative statements for academics, researchers, universities, and managers, guiding on issues that AOM members may encounter in their professional work.

The Ethical Standards set forth enforceable rules for conduct by AOM members.² Most of the Ethical Standards are written broadly to apply to members in varied roles and activities, and the application of an Ethical Standard may vary depending on the Academy context. The Ethical Standards are not exhaustive, and conduct that this “Code of Ethics” does not specifically address is not necessarily ethical or unethical. General rules of participation also exist at various levels in the Academy (e.g., program submission, manuscript submission, placement, governance activities, etc.). The enforced ethical standards are standards that individuals must adhere to when participating in and carrying out the work of the Academy of Management. Although not enforced outside the Academy, these standards may also be considered guides for positive professional practice.

Membership in the AOM commits members to uphold the principles of the “AOM Code of Ethics” and to adhere to the enforced ethical standards and the accompanying policies and procedures. Members are advised of this obligation upon joining the Academy of Management. Violations of the ethical standards may lead to the imposition of sanctions, including termination of membership.

The Academy of Management Code of Ethics is adapted from the codes of other professional associations whose scientific principles are similar to the Academy. These include the APA, AIA, ACA, and others.
“AOM member(s)” generally refers to members of the Academy of Management and nonmembers participating in AOM activities.

Preamble

The Academy of Management is devoted to increasing scientific and professional knowledge of management practices. It promotes using such knowledge to improve the work lives of individuals, the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations, and the well-being of society. The AOM ensures that attention is paid to the rights and well-being of all organizational stakeholders.

AOM members respect and protect civil and human rights and the central importance of freedom of inquiry and expression in research, teaching, and publication. They seek to help managers, employers, and public officials develop informed judgments and choices concerning the impact of business practices on individual employees and society, nationally and globally. In doing so, AOM members perform many roles, acting as researchers, teachers, consultants, diagnosticians, supervisors, administrators, commentators, and social interventionists. AOM members realize that to maintain ethical standards, they must commit to behaving ethically, encouraging students, supervisees, employees, employers, and colleagues, and consulting with others when ethical questions arise.

General Principles

These general principles are aspirations and guide AOM members in determining ethical courses of action in various contexts. They exemplify the highest ideals of professional conduct and are intended to challenge members to the highest ethical ideals of the profession.

1. Responsibility

AOM members establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work (students, colleagues, administrators, and clients). They are aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. AOM members uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm. They are concerned about the ethicality of their colleagues’ scientific, educational, and professional conduct.

2. Integrity

AOM members seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness, and to reach for excellence in teaching, scholarship, and practice. AOM members do not steal, cheat, engage in fraud, subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of fact. They strive to keep their promises and avoid unwise or unclear commitments. They treat students, colleagues, research subjects, and clients with respect, dignity, fairness, and care, and they accurately and fairly represent their areas and degrees of expertise.

3. Respect for the People’s Rights and Dignity

AOM members respect all people’s dignity and worth, including diverse backgrounds and experiences. AOM recognizes the rights of all individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination. AOM members are aware of, respect, and welcome cultural, individual, and role differences, including those based on age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status, and they consider these factors when working with all people. AOM members strive to eliminate bias in their professional activities and do not tolerate discrimination. AOM members treat everyone with justice and fairness, striving for equity in their actions and conduct. The AOM and its members are also committed to providing academic and professional work environments free of harassment and all forms of intimidation and exploitation.

Professional Principles

Our professional goals are to enhance the learning of students and colleagues and the effectiveness of organizations through our teaching, research, and management practice. We have five primary responsibilities:

1. To Our Students

Relationships with students require respect, fairness, and caring, along with commitment to our subject matter and to teaching excellence. We accomplish these aims by:

Striving for teaching excellence: Maintaining current knowledge; devoting sufficient time to preparation, communication, and timely grading; and to sensitizing students to management’s ethical and global dimensions.

Showing respect for students: Displaying respect for students’ feelings, interests, needs, contributions, intellectual freedom, and rights.
Maintaining equity: Treating students equitably by seeking to understand their barriers and circumstances. Impartiality, objectivity, and fairness are required in all dealings with students.
Counseling students: Be helpful and sensitive in counseling students, including recognition of their goals. It is our duty to be sensitive to the powerlessness of the student role in all interactions. Further, it is our duty to recognize that certain students may be in an especially disadvantaged position due to factors such as age, gender, identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status. To this end, efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion shall be made by AOM members.

2. To the Advancement of Managerial Knowledge

Prudence in research design, human subject rights, confidentiality, and reporting of results is essential. Proper attribution of work is a necessity. AOM members accomplish these aims through the following:

Conducting and reporting: It is our duty to design, implement, analyze, report, and present findings rigorously and with integrity.
Planning and implementation: It is our duty to minimize the possibility that results will be misleading and, when necessary, to consult with experts or authoritative bodies on research ethics if a practice is unclear or precarious.
Participants: It is our duty to preserve and protect the privacy, dignity, well-being, and free will of research participants.
Dissemination: It is the duty of an AOM member serving in an editorial role to exercise the privilege of their positions in a confidential, unbiased, prompt, constructive, and sensitive manner.
Grants and contracts: It is our duty to represent ourselves and proposed projects accurately and to manage those projects as promised ethically.

3. To the Academy of Management and the Larger Professional Environment

Support of the AOM’s mission and objectives, service to the AOM and its institutions, and recognition of colleagues’ dignity and personal worth of colleagues are required. We accomplish these aims through the following:

Information sharing and dissemination: To encourage meaningful exchange, AOM members should foster a climate of free interchange and constructive criticism within the AOM and should be willing to share research findings and insights fully with other members.
Academy participation: The AOM is a voluntary association whose existence and operations depend on its members cooperation, involvement, and leadership.
Commitment to professional standards of conduct: By this Code, the AOM provides ongoing ethical guidance for its members, recognizing that over time, the Code must be revised regularly to reflect the changing nature of work.
Strengthening and renewal of the Academy: The AOM must have continuous infusions of members and new points of view to remain viable and relevant as a professional association.
Membership in the professional community: It is the duty of AOM members to interact with others in our community in a manner that recognizes individual dignity and merit.

4. To Managers and the Practice of Management

The exchange of ideas and information between the academic and organizational communities is essential. Consulting with client organizations (“clients”) can enrich the teaching and practice of management, translate theory into practice, and further research and community service. To maximize such potential benefits, it is essential that members who consult be guided by the ideals of competence, integrity, and objectivity. As consultants, we accomplish these aims through the following:

Credentials and capabilities: Represent our credentials and capabilities in an accurate, objective manner.
Obligations to clients: Fulfill our obligations to present and prospective clients in a professionally responsible and timely manner.
Client relations: Consultants must maintain confidentiality with client data and be respectful, efficient, and honest.
Remuneration: Negotiate clear remuneration agreements for services.
Societal responsibilities: Consultants have a duty to uphold the legal and moral obligations of the society in which they function. Consultants should report to the appropriate authorities any unlawful activities that may have been uncovered during their consulting engagements (except where their functional or professional codes direct otherwise).

5. To All People with Whom We Live and Work in the World Community

Sensitivity to other people, diverse cultures, the needs of the poor and disadvantaged, ethical issues, and emerging ethical dilemmas are required. We accomplish this aim through the following:

Worldview: Academy members have a duty to consider their responsibilities to the world community. As educators, members of the Academy can play a vital role in encouraging a broader horizon for decision-making by viewing issues from a multiplicity of perspectives, including those who are the least advantaged.
Anti-racism: AOM members recognize the effects of racism, including institutions of racism, and the historical and ongoing impacts of these structures on members belonging to a racial and ethnic minority and indigenous communities.

Ethical Standards

These are enforceable standards of conduct applying to members in official Academy roles and members and nonmembers participating in Academy-sponsored activities. The Academy of Management is an association whose existence and operations depend on its members cooperation, involvement, and leadership. AOM members adhere to the highest ethical standards when interacting with others in the association, participating in AOM activities, and assuming official roles. Members also abide by the rules and policies about their specific AOM activities (e.g., program submission, division bylaws, board requirements, etc.).

1. Human Relations

Unfair Discrimination: AOM members do not engage in discrimination based on age, gender, identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status, or on any other basis.
Sexual Harassment: AOM members do not engage in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is sexual solicitation, physical advances, or verbal or nonverbal conduct that is sexual in nature, occurs in connection with the member’s Academy activities, and either: (1) is unwelcome, is offensive, or creates a hostile environment, and the member knows or is told this; or (2) is sufficiently severe or intense as to be deemed abusive by a reasonable person in the context. Sexual harassment can consist of intense or severe acts or multiple persistent or pervasive acts.
Other Harassments: AOM members do not knowingly engage in behavior that is harassing or demeaning to others with whom they interact, including behavior conducted electronically.
Anti-racism: AOM members do not engage in racist behavior of any kind.
Avoiding Harm: AOM members take reasonable steps to avoid harming others with whom they interact and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.
Conflicts of Interest: AOM members take appropriate steps to avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts.
- Roles. AOM members should refrain from assuming roles in which their interests or relationships could reasonably be expected to: (1) impair their objectivity, competence, or effectiveness; or (2) expose the persons or organizations with whom the relationships exist to harm or exploitation.
- Disclosure. AOM members should disclose relevant information to the appropriate responsible authorities regarding personal or professional relationships that may have the appearance of or potential for a conflict of interest.
- Decision making. AOM members carefully assess their potential for bias when making decisions affecting those with whom they have had strong conflicts or disagreements.
Exploitative Relationships: AOM members do not exploit persons over whom they have evaluative or other authority, such as authors, job seekers, or student members.
Pre, Prior, and Informed Consent: When AOM members research on behalf of the AOM or its divisions, they obtain the informed consent of the individual(s) using language reasonably understandable and informed by relevant practices. Written or oral consent, permission, and assent are documented appropriately.
Fiduciary Responsibility:
- AOM best interests. Members in official AOM roles (e.g., chairs, board members, division officers) act trustworthy, inspiring confidence that the members are acting in the AOM’s best interest.
- Duty of accounting. Members who receive or handle AOM funds provide an accurate accounting of the money and property entrusted to them and do not cheat, steal, misappropriate AOM resources, or circumvent AOM financial policies.
- Personal gain. Members of AOM, including those in official AOM roles, do not receive compensation, gifts, or other special consideration in return for the promise of AOM business. When provided with AOM resources, members use them for AOM purposes and comply with all AOM policies.

2. Privacy and Confidentiality

AOM members have an obligation to ensure the protection of confidential information. When gathering confidential information, AOM members should consider the long-term uses of the information, including its potential placement in public archives or the examination of the information by others.

Maintaining Confidentiality:
- AOM members take reasonable precautions to protect the confidentiality rights of others.
- Confidential information is treated as such even without legal protection or privilege.
- AOM members maintain the integrity of confidential deliberations, activities, or roles, including, where applicable, those of committees, review panels, or advisory groups (e.g., the AOM Placement Committee, the AOM Ethics Adjudication Committee, etc.).
- When using private information, AOM members protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable information. Information is private when an individual (e.g., an AOM scholarship applicant) can reasonably expect that the information will not be made public with personal identifiers.
Avoidance of Personal Gain:
- Under all circumstances, AOM members do not use or otherwise seek to gain from information or material received in a confidential context (e.g., knowledge obtained from reviewing a manuscript or serving on a proposal review panel), unless they have authorization to do so or that information is otherwise made publicly available.
Limits of Confidentiality:
- AOM members determine their ability to guarantee absolute confidentiality at the outset and, as appropriate, inform others of (1) the relevant limitations on confidentiality and (2) the foreseeable uses of the information generated.
- AOM members may confront unanticipated circumstances where they become aware of information threatening to others. In these cases, AOM members balance the importance of guarantees of confidentiality with other principles in this “Code of Ethics,” ethical conduct, and applicable law.
- Confidentiality is not required concerning observations in public places, activities conducted in public, or other settings where no privacy rules are provided by law or custom. Similarly, confidentiality is not required in the case of information available from public records.
Anticipation of Possible Uses of Information:
- When maintaining or accessing personal identifiers in databases or systems of records, such as division rosters, annual meeting submissions, or manuscript review systems, AOM members delete such identifiers before the information is made publicly available or employ other techniques that mask or control disclosure of individual identities.
- When deletion of personal identifiers is not feasible, AOM members take reasonable steps to determine that the appropriate consent of personally identifiable individuals has been obtained before they transfer such data to others or review such data collected by others.
Electronic Transmission of Confidential Information:
- AOM members use extreme care to deliver or transfer confidential data, information, or communication over public computer networks when conducting AOM work. AOM members are attentive to the problems of maintaining confidentiality and control over sensitive material and data when technological innovations, such as public computer networks, may open their communication to unauthorized persons.

3. Public Statements

AOM members do not make false, misleading, or fraudulent public statements. This includes statements that can be misleading or dishonest due to the information they provide or withhold. This also encompasses false or deceptive statements about other AOM members.
When, at the request of the association, AOM members provide public comment on behalf of AOM, they take reasonable precautions to ensure that: (1) the statements are based on appropriate research, literature, and practice, (2) the AOM is credited, and (3) the statements are otherwise consistent with this “Code of Ethics.”
No AOM members speak for the AOM as a whole unless asked to do so and authorized by the President.

4. Research and Publication

Reporting on Research: AOM members adhere to the highest ethical standards when disseminating their research findings, such as at the annual meeting or in AOM publications.
- AOM members do not fabricate data or falsify results in their publications or presentations.
- In presenting their work, AOM members report their findings fully and do not omit relevant data within the research question(s) context. They report results whether they support or contradict expected outcomes.
- AOM members take particular care to present relevant qualifications to their research or the findings and interpretations of their research. AOM members also disclose underlying assumptions, theories, methods, measures, limitations, sampling issues, and research designs relevant to their work’s findings and interpretations.
- In keeping with the spirit of full disclosure of methods and analyses, once findings are publicly disseminated, AOM members permit their open assessment and verification by other responsible researchers in a timely way, with appropriate safeguards, where applicable, to protect the anonymity of research participants.
- If AOM members discover significant errors in their publication or presentation of data, they take appropriate steps to correct such errors in the form of a correction, retraction, published erratum, or other public statements.
- AOM members report financial support in research papers and presentations, noting any special relations to any sponsor. AOM members may withhold the names of specific sponsors if they adequately describe the sponsors’ nature and interest.
- AOM members report the results of others’ scholarship accurately by using complete and correct information and citations when presenting the work of others.
- AOM members who analyze data from others explicitly acknowledge the contribution of the initial researchers.
Publication Process: AOM members adhere to the highest ethical standards when participating in publication and review processes.
1. Plagiarism
  - AOM members explicitly identify, credit, and reference the author of any data or material taken verbatim from written work, whether published, unpublished, or electronically available.
  - AOM members explicitly cite others’ work and ideas, including their own, even if they are not quoted verbatim or paraphrased. This standard applies whether the previous work is published, unpublished, or electronically available. Work submitted to AOM must be created by the authors and not the product of artificial intelligence tools unless appropriate to the research question and properly cited.
2. Authorship Credit
  - AOM members ensure that authorship and other publication credits, including authorship order, are based on the scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved.
  - AOM members take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only for work they have performed or to which they have contributed.
  - AOM members identify a student as the principal author of multiple-authored publications that substantially derive from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
3. Submission of Manuscripts for Publication
  - In cases of multiple authorship, AOM members confer with all other authors before submitting work for publication and establish mutually acceptable agreements regarding the submission.
  - In submitting a manuscript to an AOM publication, members grant that publication first claim to publication, except where explicit policies allow multiple submissions.
  - AOM policy permits the authors of manuscripts previously published in proceedings to submit properly referenced and substantially revised manuscripts for AOM journal review.
  - AOM members may not submit a manuscript to a second publication until after a decision has been received from the first publication or until the authors have formally withdrawn the manuscript. AOM members submitting a manuscript for publication in a journal, book series, or edited book can withdraw a manuscript from consideration up until an official acceptance is made.
  - When AOM members publish data or findings that overlap with work they have previously published elsewhere, they cite these publications. AOM members must also send the prior publication or in-press work to the AOM journal editor to whom they submit their work.
4. Responsibilities of Editors
  - When serving as editors of journals, books, or other publications, AOM members apply academic publishing standards fairly and operate without personal or ideological favoritism or malice. As volunteers serving in any editorial role, AOM members are cognizant of potential conflicts of interest and seek to identify and eliminate them.
  - When serving as editors of journals or book series, AOM members ensure the confidentiality of the review process and supervise editorial office staff, including students, by practices that maintain confidentiality.
  - When serving as editors of journals or book series, AOM members are bound to publish all manuscripts accepted unless major errors or ethical violations are discovered after acceptance (e.g., plagiarism or scientific misconduct).
  - When serving as editors of journals or book series, AOM members ensure the anonymity of reviewers unless they receive permission from reviewers to reveal their identities. Editors ensure that their staff members conform to this practice.
  - When serving as journal editors, AOM members ensure the anonymity of authors unless and until a manuscript is accepted for publication or unless the established practices of the journal are known to be otherwise.
  - When serving as journal editors, AOM members take steps to provide for the timely review of all manuscripts and respond promptly to inquiries about the status of a review.
5. Responsibilities of Reviewers
  - In reviewing the material submitted for publication or other evaluation purposes, AOM members respect the confidentiality of the process and the proprietary rights of those who submit the material.
  - AOM members disclose conflicts of interest or decline requests to review others’ work when aware of conflicts of interest.
  - AOM members decline requests for reviews of the work of others when they believe that the review process may be biased or when they have questions about the integrity of the process.
  - If asked to review a manuscript, book, or proposal they have previously reviewed, AOM members make that prior review known to the person making the request (e.g., editor, program officer), unless it is clear that they are being asked to provide a reappraisal.
  - AOM members maintain the confidentiality of their review activities before, during, and after the review process is completed to the reviewed authors, irrespective of the outcome.

5. Ascribing to the Code of Ethics

Upon joining the AOM, members agree to uphold and promote the principles of the “AOM Code of Ethics” and to adhere to its enforced ethical standards.

Familiarity with the “Code of Ethics”:
AOM members have an obligation to be familiar with this “Code of Ethics.” Lack of awareness or misunderstanding of an ethical standard is not a defense to a charge of unethical conduct.
Confronting Ethical Issues:
- When AOM members are uncertain whether a particular situation or course of action might violate the “Code of Ethics,” they may consult the AOM’s Ethics Ombudsperson at [email protected].
- When AOM members confront taking actions or making choices entailing conflict between ethical standards enunciated in the “Code of Ethics” and laws or legal requirements, they make known their commitment to the “Code” and take steps to resolve the conflict responsibly by consulting the AOM’s Ethics Ombudsperson.
Fair Treatment of Parties in Ethical Disputes:
- AOM members do not discriminate against a person based on their having made an ethical complaint or having been the subject of an ethical complaint. This consideration does not preclude taking action based on the outcome of an ethical complaint.
Reporting Ethical Violations of Others: When AOM members have substantial reason to believe that there has been an ethical violation by another AOM member, they attempt to resolve the issue by bringing it to the attention of that individual. If an informal resolution appears appropriate or possible, or AOM members seek advice about proceeding, they may contact the AOM’s Ethics Ombudsperson for guidance. The full policy for handling ethical standards violations is “Policies and Procedures for Handling Charges of Ethical Standards Violations”.
Cooperating with Ethics Committees: AOM members cooperate in ethics investigations, proceedings, and resulting requirements of the AOM. In doing so, they make reasonable efforts to resolve any confidentiality issues. Failure to cooperate may be an ethics violation.
Improper Complaints: AOM members do not file or encourage the filing of ethics complaints that are frivolous and are intended to harm the alleged violator.
Decisions by the Ethics Adjudication Committee, if not appealed, are final. Decisions by the Ethics Appeals Panel are final. Members do not seek additional redress within AOM through other means. The ethics adjudication process is outlined in the “Policies and Procedures for Handling Charges of Ethical Standards Violations”.