What is the relationship or hierarchy among the following mechanisms for ensuring that research is conducted ethically? -ethics -laws -institutional policies -professional codes of conduct -individual virtue Ethics exists at more than one level of responsibility. It is a part of professional codes of conduct and it is also at a personal level in self-regulation or individual virtue. As discussed by Lucinda Peach, ethics are the “shoulds” and “oughts” of our conduct. In this form, ethics as a general concept can influence the development of laws, policies, and codes of what should not be done. Ethics then is an umbrella covering the hierarchy of mechanisms for ensuring proper conduct in research. Laws are a general baseline for appropriate conduct followed by institutional policies and professional codes of conduct. These latter two can interchange levels of importance based on the institution and the stringency of its regulations. The most important component, or the top, of the hierarchy is individual virtue. Without ethical actions on a personal level there is no guarantee that laws and policies will have a meaning. This is not to say that if an individual does not feel that something is wrong and this disagrees with the law or policies that it should be considered right. All of the levels must be followed as an integration, as ethics in general. The levels of the hierarchy exist as different levels of increasing control and specificity leading to the researchers themselves.