Informed consent
ThemesInformed consent
What is this about?
Informed consent is a process of acquiring permission from potential participants, before conducting some sort of medical intervention, collection of personal data or enrollment in a study.[1]
- ↑ Cocanour CS. Informed consent-It's more than a signature on a piece of paper. Am J Surg. 2017;214(6):993-7.
Why is this important?
For whom is this important?
What are the best practices?
The idea of written informed consent is not new. It first appeared in the early 20th century in Walter Reed’s research of yellow fever.[1] The development of human rights after the second World War brought to life numerous declarations and rules (e.g., the Nuremberg Code) regarding human experimentation.[2] One of the concepts research that involves human participants is informed consent. In order for informed consent to be valid, researchers have to provide enough information so that participant can make an informed decision. Such information has to be provided in a way that it can be understood by participants with different educational abilities. This process is called disclosure. In order to make sure that they have the ability to understand what the research is about and the ability to make a reasonable decision, a researcher must assess the mental capacity of the participant. In the end, the researcher has to be sure that the participant makes a decision freely, without pressure or manipulation (voluntariness). [3]
Before accepting a manuscript for publication, editors should make sure authors have all the necessary research ethics permissions and signed informed consent forms from all participants.
- ↑ Cutter L. Walter Reed, Yellow Fever, and Informed Consent. Mil Med. 2016;181(1):90-1.
- ↑ Merz JF. The Nuremberg Code and Informed Consent for Research: JAMA. 2018 Jan 2;319(1):85-86. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.17704.
- ↑ Miracle VA. The Belmont Report: The Triple Crown of Research Ethics. Dimens Crit Care Nurs. 2016;35(4):223-8.
The Embassy Editorial team, Iris Lechner, Mohammad Hosseini, Ružica Tokalić contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Mar 25, 2021
