Abstract
The author discusses the current situation in research ethics, interpretation of research results and implementation of ethic codes in the teaching of ethnology and cultural anthropology in Slovakia. Research ethics is a hot topic constantly resonating in the teaching process and research work of universities. We feel that ethics in ethnology and in the academic setting has not been paid as much attention as it requires and deserves at present. The issue of ethics has two levels in the field of ethnology – on the one hand, it can be a subject of its research interest and on the other, the principles of ethics should be an inseparable part of all stages of research for an ethnologist – from the selection of research problem through field research, its processing, to final interpretation and publication of the results. The research of the issue of research ethics in Slovakia began at the beginning of the 1980s. After the political and economic changes in 1989 previously marginalized or taboo topics were opened through the optics of ethics. The needs of education at the university departments of ethnology, the work with archive materials, the requirements of various scholars, media or people interested in information about the traditional culture which is available at the academic or pedagogical institutions inevitably lead to a formulation and acceptation of rules at this field. And finally, the declaration of adherence to rules of ethics is a complementary part of projects applying for a support from abroad.
