Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20901/pm.63.3.02
Ethical Formalism in the Croatian Academic Community: An Empirical Study of Institutional Ethics
Marija Brajdić Vuković
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
Magda Profaca
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
Pavel Gregorić
; Institute of Philosophy
Abstract
This article examines the relationship between formal ethics infrastructure and everyday organizational practices in the Croatian academic community. Building on the understanding of professional ethics as an institutional property of the academic community, it introduces the concept of ethical formalism to describe an institutional configuration in which ethical norms are formally established but weakly integrated into everyday organizational practices and collective reflection. The analysis draws on two surveys conducted in 2024 among researchers at Croatian universities and public research institutes (combined sample N = 2.011; professional ethics module N = 1.109). It examines the visibility and functioning of ethics bodies, perceptions of ethical responsibility, and the distribution of everyday and serious ethical breaches, including challenges related to generative artificial intelligence. The findings reveal limited familiarity with ethics bodies, low confidence in their practical role, and a strong individualization of ethical responsibility. Rather than indicating an absence of ethics, they suggest that ethics remains procedurally institutionalized but weakly embedded in everyday academic practice.
Keywords
Ethical Formalism; Institutional Ethics; Academic Ethics; Research Integrity; Institutional Ethics Bodies
Hrčak ID:
352500
URI
Publication date:
27.10.2026.
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