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Paper short abstract:

This paper reports the findings of a desk-research inquiry into the pattern of research ethics frameworks in higher education institutions in Uzbekistan. The paper examines the pattern of adoption, adaption, and abstention in the policy process, affecting relatively new political regimes.

Paper long abstract:

New regimes need to make crucial decisions about the continuity of public policy. The new incumbents will decide whether to continue the previous administration's policies or make radical changes. The choice between continuity and change may favour the former in the early stages. However, the propensity to introduce new services or means of delivery may increase with time. In the Central Asian experience, the pattern of policy development reflects in part the process of gaining independence and the dominant autocratic regime type. The first change of leader presents a significant choice between continuity and change. This paper reports the findings of a desk-research inquiry into the pattern of research ethics frameworks in higher education institutions in Uzbekistan. The paper examines the pattern of adoption, adaption, and abstention in the policy process, affecting relatively new political regimes. It does so by examining how Uzbekistan’s higher education system addressed the issue of ethics in the face of increased pressure for greater research productivity. Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991, and, like many new countries, in many policy areas, public policy mirrored that of the previous regime. However, new structures needed to be put in place concerning research ethics. Policy-makers were faced with adopting arrangements already used in other countries, adapting them to local conditions or abstaining to concentrate on other issues.

Keywords: Central Asia, higher education, research ethics, social sciences, humanities, public policy.