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The Association for Research in Otolaryngology is committed to the belief that high ethical standards are fundamental to research that will advance knowledge and improve medical care. Thus the goals of our organization include not only promotion and dissemination of scientific research but also promotion of the highest standards of integrity in the acquisition, analysis, and presentation of scientific data. All members of this organization should adhere to ethical guidelines as described by national funding agencies, the scientific journals in our field, and local research institutions. The Association for Research in Otolaryngology expects that all members will adhere to the following basic guidelines. 1. Protection of research subjects. For experiments involving human subjects, appropriate informed consent must be obtained. In studies using human or animal subjects, distress or pain must be minimized, and subjects must be carefully monitored for adverse effects. Euthanasia for animal subjects should be carried out in a rapid and painless manner consistent with standard veterinary guidelines. It is expected that proposed experiments involving human or animal subjects will be reviewed by the investigator's institutional review boards. 2. Integrity of data. Investigators are expected to continually monitor the integrity of their data, and consider potential errors that would contaminate experimental results. When appropriate, the investigator should point out these potential errors or other factors which may be important in interpreting the data. Open discussion of such problems permits others to assist in their resolution. Primary data should be maintained such that they are accessible for later review if needed. Once data have been collected and are felt to be worthy of dissemination, the investigator should seek to make the results public in a timely fashion. It is ethically and scientifically imperative that data not be excluded or selected without a valid scientific rationale. To do so can create the illusion of a desired or anticipated result. Data that are excluded should be mentioned and an explanation should be given for the exclusion. Intentional misrepresentation of data is unethical. 3. Acknowledgment of funding. Sources of research funding and potential conflicts of interest should always be acknowledged in a data presentation. 4. Publication and presentation. When an abstract is submitted to the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, it is understood that the same results have not been published or presented elsewhere unless so acknowledged. It is assumed that a submitted abstract will later be published as a full-length article. Submission of an abstract after publication of the manuscript is inappropriate. All authors of an abstract or manuscript should have made significant contributions to the work. They should have read and agreed to the final submission and be prepared to defend the conclusions drawn from the research.