Commentaries concerning the objective selection of scientists by their peers for membership in professional organizations and institutes are presented in this article published in the USSR. The case of negative balloting on L. S. Salyamon at the Learned Council of the Soviet Scientific Research Institute of Oncology is the main concern. An official response signed by the Institute directors and the party and trade union organizations is included. Commentaries are made by the Division of Communist Education on the basis of criticism about the Institute response and operational steps. The article concludes by presenting two well-known Soviet scientists' ideas about the problem of high scientific ethics and principles. Recommendations are made on the improvement of the voting procedure, the moral level of the collective at an institute, the influence and force of preliminary expert suggestions, and the composition of the voting body to secure an objective collective decision. (CC)