Draft version 1.3 beta — Revised July 15, 2026

A Geoethics Primer for Geoscientists

Part 4. Ethical Standards, Norms, and Obligations of Geoscientists as Reflected in Published Codes and Regulations

4.1 Introduction

Common morality applies to everyone, and science ethics govern all scientists. Geoscientists must also follow their own discipline-specific ethical expectations and obligations. Minimum accepted standards are defined by codes of geoscience ethics that are issued by geoscience organizations, academic departments, employers, and governments. Each geoscientist is responsible for understanding the geoethical codes that are relevant to their work.

Geoscience organizations, such as the Geological Society of America (GSA), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG), the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG), and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), along with many others, provide many valuable benefits. These include access to their publications — both formal and informal — field trips, scholarships, in-person meetings, webinars, short courses, access to internships and employment services, and the social benefits of engaging with a diverse group of geoscientists.

Each of these organizations fosters a community of shared interest through which members can freely choose to connect with one another. Knowledge and skills are transmitted within these voluntary communities, and members learn about the behavioral and operational practices that are standard there. Geoscience organizations support our growth as geoscientists throughout our careers.

Most geoscience organizations publish standards of behavior for their members to follow. These might be in the form of ethical guidelines, codes, or rules of professional practice.  Usually, membership applications or annual renewals require acceptance of the code as a condition of membership. Some organizations also maintain ethical standards that specifically address behavior at meetings, field trips, short courses, and webinars, as well as publication ethics.

4.1.1 Benevolence and the Principle of Beneficence

As we use the term in ordinary conversation, the term beneficence is associated with "acts or personal qualities of mercy, kindness, generosity, and charity. It is suggestive of altruism, love, humanity, and promoting the good of others."1  Beneficence is a central feature of many moral systems, associated with religious and secular groups alike. (It is not central to Bernard Gert's description of common morality.2-3) In contrast with beneficence, the word benevolence "refers to the morally valuable character trait—or virtue—of being disposed to act to benefit others."1 Benevolence is not an externally dictated obligation, but rather is a personal inclination toward personal and social virtues such as kindness, helpfulness, gratitude, generosity, friendliness (sociability), courtesy, joyfulness, and courage. These virtues promote social harmony.

Common morality is a public system that all rational persons would agree to, whose aim is to prohibit causing harm or evil.2-3 It focuses on not violating a defined set of fundamental moral rules, rather than focusing on promoting personal or social virtues. While common morality does not impose a general obligation of beneficence on all rational persons, there can be obligations of beneficence imposed in codes of professional ethics that bind persons in specified roles that involve public health, safety, well-being, and other important concerns. Rational people freely choose to pursue careers as professionals in certain fields (medicine, law, engineering, and geoscience among them) and agree to fulfill the relevant obligations.

Some ethics codes restrict their interests to technical matters and business ethics of the sort that are of interest to company human-resources departments. Those codes do not obligate geoscientists to act in the interest of any outside groups (such as society, the community, the profession), and do not require geoscientists to consider the possible future consequences of their work. Some codes of professional practice focus on the company's financial success and the financial interests of its owners, investors, and shareholders. They want geoscientists bound by this sort of code to focus on doing their jobs well and generating as little internal friction as possible. An organization that has this sort of ethics code honors its responsibility to operate within the constraints of law and applicable statutes, and in turn does not constrain its geoscientist-employees' liberty to abide by common morality or the ethical requirements of scientific integrity.

Other ethics codes include concepts of beneficence. When the term beneficence is used in the context of ethical theory, it is understood to include effectively all norms, dispositions, and actions that have the intended consequence of benefitting or promoting the good of other persons.1 Ethics codes that include beneficence are common, and create expectations or obligations that a geoscientist will act on behalf of not only shareholders but also stakeholders, which might be broadly interpreted as including colleagues, employees, society, the profession, and the environment. The widely used language of "safeguarding the health, safety, and wellbeing of the public" represents a principle of beneficence. In more than 30 states in the US, companies are now able to incorporate as a "beneficial corporation — a for-profit company whose articles of incorporation require that it takes into account the interests of workers, the community, and the environment, as well as shareholders."4

4.1.2 Aspirational Codes and Enforceable Codes

Some ethics codes are aspirational documents composed of a list of expectations about various acts that every member should try to embrace or avoid. The word "should" in a code is a clue that the behavior is expected but not required. Expectations are sometimes expressed as guidelines rather than rules or policies. Failure to meet expectations might result in some reputational damage that could have longer-term consequences if not corrected.

Other ethics codes are mandatory because they include obligations that bind everyone who agrees to abide by the code. The words "must," "shall," and "required" are clues that the listed behavior is an obligation. Obligations are expressed as rules or policies that must be obeyed. Failure to comply with an obligation might result in some form of disciplinary action (for example, a reprimand, suspension, or expulsion) that can harm your reputation and career.

It is possible that you could violate a provision of an aspirational code of professional behavior in a manner that violates the mandatory ethics code of a different organization in which you are a member, including the company that employs you. That could make you liable for more significant punishment and broader reputational damage.

An employment contract defines the legal relationship between a geoscientist and their employer. Typically, employers expect or require their employees to act with integrity. Employers of geoscientists, such as governments, universities, and companies, might or might not have written standards of professional conduct, to retain flexibility in terminating employees "for cause." Non-contract employees in "at-will employment" states in the US can be fired at any time for any reason or no reason at all — without having to establish just cause — as long as the motivation is not illegal. In the United States, employment law varies by state, and federal employment rights mainly address illegal discrimination against protected classes of people.

In some jurisdictions, a professional geoscientist must be certified or licensed to practice. Certifying organizations, such as the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG), and licensing authorities, such as state boards of professional licensure, generally have mandatory codes of professional practice. Failure to fulfill the ethical obligations of a certified or licensed geoscientist can result in loss or suspension of the right to practice and even monetary fines.

We will consider the form and content of a few aspirational and mandatory codes of conduct for geoscientists. You can find links to many different ethics codes and related documents as you move through this part of the Primer.

4.2 An Aspirational Geoethics Code: The AGI Guidelines

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI)5 was founded in 1948, at the suggestion of the National Academy of Sciences, and is a federation of approximately four dozen geoscience institutions in the United States and worldwide. Following a week-long "Conference on Ethics in the Geosciences"6, 7 in 1997, an ad hoc committee organized by AGI and other groups developed a set of guidelines for ethical professional conduct (1999) that was subsequently revised in 2015.8 As of 2018, the current version had been formally endorsed by at least 31 organizations representing most if not all geoscientists in the US, Canada, and the UK.

The AGI Guidelines for Ethical Professional Conduct (2015) consists mainly of a list of 17 expectations for geoscientists:

In day-to-day activities geoscientists should:
• Be honest.
• Act responsibly and with integrity, acknowledge limitations to knowledge and understanding, and be accountable for their errors.
• Present professional work and reports without falsification or fabrication of data, misleading statements, or omission of relevant facts.
• Distinguish facts and observations from interpretations.
• Accurately cite authorship, acknowledge the contributions of others, and not plagiarize.
• Disclose and act appropriately on real or perceived conflicts of interest.
• Continue professional development and growth.
• Encourage and assist in the development of a safe, diverse, and inclusive workforce.
• Treat colleagues, students, employees, and the public with respect.
• Keep privileged information confidential, except when doing so constitutes a threat to public health, safety, or welfare.

As members of a professional and scientific community, geoscientists should:
• Promote greater understanding of the geosciences by other technical groups, students, the general public, news media, and policy makers through effective communication and education.
• Conduct their work recognizing the complexities and uncertainties of the Earth system.
• Sample responsibly so that materials and sites are preserved for future study.
• Document and archive data and data products using best practices in data management, and share data promptly for use by the geoscience community.
• Use their technical knowledge and skills to protect public health, safety, and welfare, and enhance the sustainability of society.
• Responsibly inform the public about natural resources, hazards, and other geoscience phenomena with clarity and accuracy.
• Support responsible stewardship through an improved understanding and interpretation of the Earth, and by communicating known and potential impacts of human activities and natural processes.

Here are the links to both versions of the AGI guidelines:

The current American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Code of Ethics (2020) highlights many of the same ideas and illustrates similar ethical attitudes as professionals acting in the public interest.

4.3 Enforceable Geoethics Codes

The following geoethics documents speak for themselves, and will not be reiterated on this website as the AGI guidelines were. Enforceable geoethics codes have an enforcement provision of some sort. Failure to abide by the obligations listed in the codes of voluntary organizations like GSA and AGU might result in reputational damage and either suspension or termination of membership in the organization. Violations of ethics code provisions embedded in governmental administrative, civil, or criminal codes might have more serious consequences.

4.3.1 A Certifying Organization: American Institute of Professional Geologists

The American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG)9 was founded in 1963 to promote and strengthen the ethical professional practice of geology in the United States. AIPG has established a broadly respected peer-review program for certifying the qualifications of professional geologists as "competent practitioners who have been deemed worthy of public trust." An AIPG Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) who has appropriate experience can gain Qualified Person (QP) or Competent Person (CP) status nationally and internationally. Being a QP or CP allows you to engage in public reporting of mineral resource estimates and related information. A CPG can also seek reciprocal certifications from the European Federation of Geologists, the Geological Society of London, the Institute of Geologists of Ireland, and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Division of Professional Affairs.

Since 1987, AIPG member David Abbott has presented a column called "Geologic Ethics and Professional Practice" in AIPG's quarterly journal The Professional Geologist that responds to problems described by AIPG members in light of the AIPG Code of Ethics. This column greatly enhances the practical application of this code, and facilitates development of community understanding of applied professional geoethics.

4.3.2 Large, Broad-Based Geoscience Associations

4.3.3 Governmental Geoscience: United States Geological Survey

Geoscientists work as federal employees and contractors in many agencies of the United States government. Here we focus on ethics documents that guide the work of geoscientists in the U.S. Geological Survey15 — part of the Department of the Interior — and I have chosen to feature recent versions through 2024.

Conflict of interest and scientific misconduct are two particular areas of interest in governmental geoscience ethics codes. Public service has its own ethical standards and norms.16, 17 The work products of governmental geoscientists should be impartial and in the public interest — holding the health, safety, and welfare of the public as paramount concerns. The accuracy with which features like active-fault traces, flood-zone boundaries, the high-high tide line in coastal areas, and boundaries of known- or potentially-active landslides are mapped is important, because of the impact of federal maps on land-use decisions. Similarly, mineral assays, air- and water-quality analyses, and resource assessments by governmental geoscientists have a direct economic impact. The purpose of governmental geoscience is to provide the public with unbiased and reliable information — only scientifically sound results are useful.

The following documents describe the ethical standards that USGS geoscientists are expected or obligated to uphold.

4.3.4 Geoethics in State, Provincial, and Territorial Licensing Laws

Licensing of professional geoscientists is a function of state law in the United States and provincial or territorial law in Canada. Not all states, provinces, or territories require professional geoscientists to be licensed — 31 of 50 states in the US and, in Canada, 9 of 10 provinces and 2 of 3 territories have some form of geoscience licensure law. Both the US and Canada have organizations that are essentially federations of regulators: the National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG)18 in the US and Geoscientists Canada19 in Canada. Neither licenses geoscientists directly, but both help by promoting standards and facilitating reciprocity of licensing.

4.3.4.1 National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Model Licensure Law

The National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) is a professional service organization that seeks to advance the professional licensing of geoscientists in the United States by proposing model text for state licensure laws, developing validated examinations to verify that successful candidates meet minimum qualifications, and administering the exams. Two exams are administered to candidates who have met specified basic qualifications:  Fundamentals of Geology (FG), and Practice of Geology . Candidates who pass the FG exam and work under the supervision of a licensed geologist for a specified time are qualified to take the PG exam. Successful completion of the PG exam is required for a geoscientist to be licensed in the United States. Additional requirements apply in some states for specific topics of specialization, such as geophysics, engineering geology, and hydrogeology. ASBOG also provides a forum for members of state boards of geology to coordinate their efforts and discuss matters of mutual interest.

4.3.4.2 Ethics Codes from US State Boards of Registration
4.3.4.3 Ethics Codes from Canadian Regulatory Groups
4.3.4.4 Enforceable Ethics Codes from South America

4.4 Other Geoscience Ethics Codes

4.4.1 Applied-Geoscience Organizations

4.4.2 Academic Geoscience Schools/Departments

4.4.3 Compilations of Geoethics Codes

4.5 Examples of Reported Violations of Enforceable Ethics Codes

It is doubtful that all of the effort exerted on the creation and maintenance of geoethics codes and compliance systems over the last century would have occurred if there had not been cases of ethical failure that had significant consequences. Major scandals like the Bre-X mining fraud42 and the Teapot Dome scandal43 certainly had broad-ranging consequences, but these are greatly outnumbered by smaller ethical failures that might not be well known but, in some cases, have also had devastating consequences for individuals, families, and communities.

A brief sample of ethical issues acknowledged by the science and geoscience communities6, 44‐47 includes:

conflict of interestnon-disclosure of regulatory violations
breach of confidentialityinappropriate advocacy for client
accepting a bribe/giftgiving a bribe/gift
insufficient "scope of work"dishonest invoicing
misrepresenting qualificationsplagiarism
incompetent practiceselective data acquisition
selective data analysisselective data disclosure
retaliation against a whistleblower who acts in good faithinsufficient error analysis
insufficient recording of datanonretention of data records
bias in the scientific investigationbias in reporting the interpretations or conclusions
illegal acts (e.g., fraud)negligence
data fabricationdata falsification

4.6 Scenarios

Scenarios are depersonalized outlines of situations that might involve a violation of moral rules or ethical standards, presented here to help you. (This section is under construction as of July 11, 2026.)

Scenario 4.1 Text

Some questions [1] text

 [2] text

 [3] text

4.7 Notes and References

1 Beauchamp, T., 2019, The Principle of Beneficence in Applied Ethics, in Zalta, E.N., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: accessed 20260712 via plato.stanford.edu/entries/principle-beneficence/

2 Gert, B., 2004, Common Morality – Deciding What To Do: Oxford, U.K., Oxford University Press, 179 p., ISBN 978-0-19-531421-2

3 Gert, B., 2005, Morality – Its Nature and Justification [revised edition]: Oxford, U.K., Oxford University Press, 438 p., ISBN-13: 978-0-19-517689-6, 978-0-19-517690-2 (pbk.)

4 Reich, R.B., 2018, The Common Good: New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 193 p., ISBN 978-0-525-52049-8, p. 126-127.

5 American Geosciences Institute (AGI): www.americangeosciences.org

6 Stephenson, D., 1997, Report on Conference on "Ethics in the Geosciences": available via croninprojects.org/Geoethics/Primer/GSA_Ethics_in_the_Geosciences.pdf

7 Stephenson, D., Grauch, R, Holzer, T., Price, J., and Rose, P., 1997, Ethics in the Geosciences – A Conference Report: Geotimes, November 1997, p. 29-32; available via croninprojects.org/Geoethics/Primer/Ethics_in_the_Geosciences_Summary.pdf

8 Mogk, D, and Boland, M., 2015, Development of the 2015 American Geosciences Institute Guidelines for Ethical Professional Conduct: History, Context, and Intended Use: American Geosciences Institute, accessed 20251019 via www.americangeosciences.org/static/files/agi/community/DevelopmentOfTheAGIGuidelinesForEthicalProfessionalConduct_4-15-2015.pdf

9 American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG): aipg.org

10 American Geophysical Union (AGU): www.agu.org

11 European Federation of Geologists (EFG): eurogeologists.eu

12 Geological Society of America (GSA): www.geosociety.org

13 Geological Association of Canada (GAC): gac.ca

14 Geological Society of London (GSL): www.geolsoc.org.uk

15 United States Geological Survey (USGS): www.usgs.gov

16 Bowman, J.S., and West, J.P., 2022, Public Service Ethics — Individual and Institutional Responsibilities [third edition]: New York, Routledge, 978-1-032-06631-8, 411 p.

17 Svara, J.H., 2022, The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations: Burlington, MA, Jones and Bartlett Learning, ISBN 9781284211573, 222 p.

18 Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG): www.asbog.org

19 Geoscientists Canada (GC): geoscientistscanada.ca

20 Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists: www.algeobd.alabama.gov

21 California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists: www.bpelsg.ca.gov

22 Texas Board of Professional Geologists: www.tbpg.state.tx.us

23 Engineers and Geoscientists of British Colombia: www.egbc.ca

24 NW Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists: www.napeg.nt.ca

25 Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta: www.apega.ca

26 Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan: www.apegs.ca

27 The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba: www.enggeomb.ca

28 Professional Geoscientists Ontario: www.pgo.ca

29 Engineers and Geoscientists New Brunswick: www.apegnb.com

30 Geoscientists Nova Scotia: www.geoscientistsns.ca

31 Newfoundland and Labrador: pegnl.ca

32 Ordre des géologues du Québec: ogq.qc.ca

33 American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG): www.aapg.org

34 Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG): www.aegweb.org/

35 Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG): seg.org

36 Society of Independent Professional Earth Scientists (SIPES): sipes.org

37 Geosciences Department, Colorado State University: warnercnr.colostate.edu/geosciences

38 Geosciences Department, Virginia Tech University: geos.vt.edu

39 Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas–Austin: www.jsg.utexas.edu

40 International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG): www.geoethics.org

41 Science Education Research Center (SERC): serc.carleton.edu

42 Wikipedia, 2025, Bre-X: accessed 20251019 via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bre-X

43 Wikipedia, 2025, Teapot Dome scandal: accessed 20251019 via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teapot_Dome_scandal

44 Warner, J.L. 2015, Task analysis survey 2015: A study of the practice of geology in the United States and Canada: National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG), accessible via asbog.org/documents/ASBOG TAS 2015 - Summary Report (July 2021).pdf

45 Williams, J., 2018, The National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG): Involvement in Geoscience Professional Ethics, in Gunderson, L.C., [editor], Scientific Integrity and Ethics in the Geosciences: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, ISBN 978-1-119-06778-8, p. 77–99.

46 National Science and Technology Council, Executive Office of the President (2000), Federal Policy on Research Misconduct: Federal Register 65, p. 76260–76264, accessed 20251018 via www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/12/06/00-30852/executive-office-of-the-president-federal-policy-on-research-misconduct-preamble-for-research

47 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), 2017, Fostering Integrity in Research: Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, ISBN 978-0-309-39125-2, 309 p., accessible via nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21896/fostering-integrity-in-research