Research Ethics and Integrity: Governance and Processes
InstructionsResearch Ethics and Integrity: Governance and Processes
The aim
To provide learners from different backgrounds and disciplines with an overview of how research ethics and integrity matters are governed, including the mechanisms and processes for ethics approval.
The learning outcomes
At the end of this module, learners will be able to:
- Explore the governance mechanisms for research ethics and integrity at different levels (like international, national, institutional).
- Identify and consider the research ethics and integrity codes and guidelines that are relevant to their own research.
- Describe the process of research ethics approval including when it is needed, from whom and what it entails.
What is Research Governance?
Video Transcript
Research governance can be thought of as the broad range of regulations, principles, processes and systems that help to ensure good practice in the management and conduct of research. Governance regulations and systems aim to:
- safeguard the interests of those who are affected by the research (for example, participants, researchers, animals, environments, society, and institutions),
- foster accountability and trustworthiness, and
- promote high-quality research.
It is often repeated that research ethics was ‘born in scandal’ because its evolution has been repeatedly triggered by revelations about exploitation of participants in research. For instance, early medical experiments undertaken by physicians and biomedical scientist involved the use of vulnerable individuals (like orphaned children or prisoners) as ‘human guinea pigs’. History shows us that many of the early ethics codes and governance mechanisms were developed in response to such scandals in research. For instance, the Nuremberg Code was formulated in 1947, as a direct response to the abhorrent medical experiments by Nazi and Japanese doctors during the Second World War. While major scandals in research may not be commonplace nowadays, the development and refinement of research ethics codes and processes is ongoing as new ethical challenges and problems come to light.
Today, there are a multitude of ethics codes, policies and systems for research governance at international, national, organisational, and institutional levels. Finding out which governance mechanisms are relevant to a research study is of primary importance for all researchers when designing and conducting research.Research Ethics
Video Transcript
The most well-known and widely used example of research ethics guidelines comes from the World Medical Association, which was established in 1947 after World War II, to address growing concerns about unethical medical practice. The Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, (henceforth, ‘the Declaration’) was first adopted in 1964.
The Declaration set the standard for ethical medical research involving humans. Even though it acts as a guideline rather than a document with international legal implications, the Declaration has had a great influence on the formulation of regulations and legislation of research, as well as the development of other codes of research ethics. Since its inception, the Declaration has been revised several times.
The 37 principles encoded in the Declaration cover a wide range of issues with the primary aim of ensuring the welfare of research participants. Fundamental to this aim is the individual’s rights to self-determination, and the provision of sufficient information to be able to make an informed decision when considering participation in a research study.
Today, there are a profusion codes of ethics and guidelines across the world operating at international, national, organisational, and institutional levels. Some are aimed at setting out behavioural standards for professionals such as lawyers, psychologists or policing services. The largest collection of codes is held by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions in Illinois, which contains around 4,000 codes and ethics guidelines.Research Integrity
Video Transcript
The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), describes research integrity as:
"crucial to preserving the trustworthiness of the research system and its results. It encompasses the basic responsibility of the research community to formulate the principles of research, to define the criteria for proper research behaviour, to maximise the quality, reliability, and robustness of research and its results, and to respond adequately to threats to, or violations of, good research practices." (ALLEA, 2023:3)
The most well-known guidelines for research integrity, The Singapore Statement on Research Integrity was published in 2010. The statement was the result of an international, collaborative effort to develop more comprehensive standards, codes and policies to promote research integrity at local and global levels.
The Singapore Statement calls for:
- Honesty in all aspects of research
- Accountability in the conduct of research
- Professional courtesy and fairness in working with others
- Good stewardship of research on behalf of others
In addition, the statement outlines 14 professional responsibilities to ensure the integrity of research.
These responsibilities include the need for researchers to take responsibility for the integrity of their research, adherence to regulations, the use of appropriate research methods, the keeping of good research records, prompt and open sharing of research findings, responsible authorship and publication acknowledgement practices, participation in peer review, declaration of any conflicts of interest, clear public communication, reporting and responding to irresponsible research practises, fostering research environments that support research integrity, and recognising societal considerations relevant to their research.
