Research Ethics has emerged as one of the most well-developed policy areas within the sphere of Research and Innovation Management. As such, for African institutions looking to strengthen their policy frameworks, develop increased collaborations, and increase research outputs, a thorough understanding of global trends in Ethics will be vital. Drawing on data compiled in The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Research Management Good Practice Index (the Index), this report analyses Research Ethics policy documents in place at African institutions and at institutions around the world, and identifies key trends in these documents. At the time of writing, the Index includes over 650 distinct policy documents, 260 of which relate to Research Ethics. These Ethics documents are in place at 64 institutions around the world, including seven institutions in Africa, based in South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya. Special attention is paid to case studies from African institutions to link global policy trends with developments in an African context. For the purposes of this report, Research Ethics has been divided into four sub-themes, including: Human Research Ethics; Animal Research Ethics; Conflict of Interest; and Ethics in Graduate Supervision. Documented examples of current practice have also been distinguished as: policies; guidelines; template forms; and services. All documents have also been searched for particular "policy elements," or particular passages and provisions, to allow for a qualitative comparison of document content across the sample. The appendices provide maps of "policy elements" by institution and by country. Appendices include: (1) Human Subject Ethics: Policy Element Matrix; (2) Conflict of Interest: Policy Element Matrix; (3) Animal Research Ethics: Policy Element Matrix; (4) Graduate Supervision Ethics: Policy Element Matrix; and (5) Research Ethics Policies, Guides, and Forms Catalogued in the Good Practice (August 2006). (Contains 24 tables, 21 figures and 37 footnotes.) [This report was produced for Research Africa.]