The Need for Ethics in Operations Research

This paper presents a bibliometric and narrative literature review examining how ethics has been addressed within the Operations Research (OR) field. Through a Scopus-based search of 74 papers spanning 1980–2026, the study identifies publication patterns, influential authors, and thematic developments in ethics-related OR research. Findings reveal that explicit normative engagement remains relatively limited within core OR journals, yet ethical considerations increasingly emerge through sustainability, healthcare, and social decision-making applications. The analysis does not permit causal explanations of disciplinary culture, training traditions, or editorial practices; instead, it frames these questions for further systemic investigation. By situating empirical patterns within broader debates on methodological reflexivity and systemic intervention, this study contributes to ongoing discussions about integrating ethics more explicitly into OR theory and practice. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2026.