Ethical Framework for the Software Development Process: A Systematic Mapping Study

Ethics is one of the main elements that maintain the organization within the software development process in companies. Therefore, it is necessary to apply codes of ethics to meet this requirement. This research aims to propose an ethical framework that facilitates understanding and possible implementations of ethical issues during the software development process. For this purpose, a systematic mapping study (SMS) was performed. After performing the SMS, we did not find a study that integrates an ethical framework into the software development process. Therefore, we propose an ethical integration framework for the software development process because it is considered imperative that every developer understands ethical principles and can apply them during the software development for responsible decision-making. We conclude, first, that software companies do not follow specific ethical guidelines, resulting in unethical outcomes in developing their software products. Secondly, implementing a code of ethics will depend on how each software developer knows, and knows how to act in a way that is consistent with ethical values.