Three Papers on Ethical Issues in the Software Engineering Profession

Three Papers on Ethical Issues in the Software Engineering ProfessionThere are ethical issues that affect software development industry. To help software engineers to be better equipped to deal with these issues, several papers and articles have been published in academic and professional journals on ethical issues in the software development industry.The first paper on ethical issues in the software engineering profession was written by Catherine Marshall in 2020. This article dealt with legal and ethical implications arising from a company's partnership with a developer. There were a number of issues that were discussed in this paper and the following papers that are devoted to ethical issues in the software engineering profession.John Ebert, Ann Turner, and Martin Roitberg stated that ethical issues arise when an organization gets into the business of supporting unethical practices. Most of the unethical practices were on the part of the developers or the consultants who would go along and test the project. It is against the code of ethics for these professionals to reveal what they know about the project until after it is completed.However, the third Professional Paper in this series stated that certain unethical practices did not pertain to any company but were only directed towards the consultants. The paper discusses unethical practices in the field of testing. The paper claims that most of the software engineering professionals follow a checklist procedure to certify that a test has been passed by the developer. However, the test could be useless if the developer does not pass it.The third paper in this series goes even further on ethical issues by stating that any complaints about unethical behavior can be filed anonymously in case of confidentiality issues. The anonymous complaints could be used to file charges against those that are creating problems with the integrity of the team. A summary of the findings of the review could be presented to the man agement team, who would then be able to properly handle the situation.If the developer is found guilty of any unethical behavior, the paper outlines other steps that would need to be taken to make the developers keep their jobs. A blackballing policy needs to be put in place and once the developers decide to leave the company, they must be given a warning. This would prevent them from leaving for another company that had a similar position with the developers in the past.The third Professional Paper in this series presented two more unethical practices that would be considered against the code of ethics. One was in the area of playing favorites in the process of hiring and in the hiring of employees. It is also illegal to favor a specific person or group of people over another.The third paper on ethical issues in the software engineering profession covered things such as personal dishonesty. The best way to protect one's reputation is by following the code of ethics. A list of uneth ical practices would be available to be reviewed by management and the individuals involved with the project.