In order to do ethical research, researchers must obtain informed consent from research participants. Informed consent is sometimes obtained verbally rather than using a written form. Researchers usually need to have their way of obtaining informed consent approved by an institutional review board.

The principle of confidentiality requires all psychologists to take steps before, during, and after research to ensure that no individually identifiable information is accessible to non-researchers without the expressed consent of the participants. A case study can be defined as an intensive review of at least one person’s psychological profile. It is virtually impossible to remove all identifiable information from such a report. For this reason, confidentiality agreements are often lengthy in case studies, and the participant(s) must be kept aware of the risk that, in spite of a researcher's best efforts, their identity may become known.

Nearly all research in psychology must be approved ahead of time by either an IRB or ethics board, in order to determine what risks are present in the experimental design and whether proper procedures and practices are being implemented. Examples of research that might not require initial approval are archival research, meta-analyses (though these often eventually require IRB approval for publication), and research using only computer simulations as participants.

Experimenter bias is the process by which an informed researcher unconsciously shows preference for one or more groups, based on knowledge outside the experiment. Note that this is not a choice—deliberately favoring one group due to outside knowledge is called fraud, and is definitely an ethics violation. A double blind methodology could rectify this issue.

When a study is published, a researcher may rephrase or simplify the language, results, conclusions, or methods of the research in order to appeal to a wider audience. Sometimes, particular journals require the author to simplify research before a submission can be accepted. This is only acceptable when no relevant facts are changed and the rephrasing of conclusions are not suggestive.

An institutional review board (IRB) is a committee that reviews, approves, and monitors biomedical and behavioral research conducted on humans. Its purpose is to assure that participants' rights are protected during the course of research.

In addition to the oversight of the humane treatment of animals during experimentation, each university or research institute's IACUC is also responsible for approving research to be performed on animals, reporting on any preventable animal deaths, and serving as a liaison for animal ethics issues between governing bodies like the APA and colleges.

The American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines for ethical principles in psychology state that psychologists should refrain from initiating an activity when they know or should know that there is a substantial likelihood that their personal problems will prevent them from performing their work-related activities in a competent manner. In other words, the branch associated with competence warrants against the proposed behavior.

Deception may be necessary to study subjects' true behavior, as people may behave differently if they know they are under observation or know the exact purpose of the study being performed. However, deceiving subjects simply because they might be upset if they knew the truth is not a valid ethical reason to do so.

According to American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines, a participant in a study cannot be placed under significant mental or physical risk. There are no forms that the participant can sign that would allow for these conditions in a study.