BACB Ethics Code Study Sheet (2026)

Seven pages on the BACB Ethics Code, built for the situational ethics items on the BCBA exam.

What you get

• The four core principles and all six standards sections
• The obligations candidates most often miss: multiple relationships, the limits of your scope, supervision responsibilities, caregiver requests the data does not support, and the reporting duties people assume are optional
• Application scenarios written in the exam’s own item logic

Who it is for

BCBA candidates who want ethics covered early. Ethics is the one area where a week of work moves your score more than a month spent anywhere else.

Why ethics needs its own sheet

Ethical and Professional Issues is its own content area on the 6th edition outline, and ethics items turn up right across the exam wearing other clothes. They are almost never recall questions. They give you a situation and ask what you are obliged to do.

Format

Printable PDF and editable Word. Pairs with the BCBA prep bundle and works on its own.

BCBA and BACB are registered trademarks of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc., which is not affiliated with ClinicalToolsCo and does not endorse this product.

Common questions

What is the BACB Ethics Code?

The Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, in effect since January 1, 2022, applies to all BCBA and BCaBA applicants and certificants. It replaced the 2014 Professional and Ethical Compliance Code. RBTs follow a separate RBT Ethics Code.

What are the four core principles?

Benefit others; treat others with compassion, dignity and respect; behave with integrity; and ensure their competence.

What are the six sections of the code?

Responsibility as a professional, responsibility in practice, responsibility to clients and stakeholders, responsibility to supervisees and trainees, responsibility in public statements, and responsibility in research.

How much of the BCBA exam is ethics?

Ethical and Professional Issues is Section E of the 6th edition Test Content Outline: 22 of the 175 scored questions, or 13%. Ethics also shows up inside scenario questions from other sections.

Worth reading first: The BACB Ethics Code: four principles, six sections and the BCBA exam

Watch free on YouTube:

• BCBA ethics: five questions worked out loud, and what the 6th edition actually tests
• BCBA exam 2026: 185 questions, 175 scored, nine sections, 104 task codes