In the field of academia, ethical research issues can cause a permanent dent to a researcher’s image. That is why, it is important that research ethics are adhered to while conducting research and reporting the results of your study. Nevertheless, many novice researchers flout ethical norms unwittingly because they are not aware of basic principles. If ethical issues in research are detected, it may bring into question the reliability of the research. In addition, the paper may be retracted from the journal.
How well do you understand and follow the basic ethical norms? As a best practice, researchers should comply with research ethics for any kind of research; however, compliance with ethics is particularly critical when the study involves human or animal subjects. Here are the key ethical standards that researchers should be aware of when conducting human or animal subject research.
- Obtain prior approval from relevant authorities: If your research involves human or animal subjects, you should get approval from the institutional review board (IRB) of your affiliated organization, research ethics committee, or related organizations for all of the proposed procedures prior to conducting the research. If your research is funded by an external organization, their approval is also necessary. You can read this case study to understand why gaining prior approval from related institutions is essential for conducting research and the repercussions a researcher had to face when she failed to get it.
- Ensure compliance with relevant guidelines. It is important that you comply with the guidelines that apply to your study. If you are conducting research that involves human subjects, check the standards specified in the declaration of Helsinki, an official statement that defines ethical principles that should be followed when conducting research on human subjects. On the other hand, if your research involves animals, you should check whether your laboratory or institution is in compliance with the ARRIVE checklist, which is a checklist with recommendations to improve the reporting of animal research.
- Pre-register clinical trials. Pre-registration of clinical trials is a global mandate that you must follow if you want to avoid ethical research issues. Moreover, it is required that researchers register the trial before the enrolment of the first patient. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Declaration of Helsinki state that researchers should register in a database or registry that is publicly accessible. Some of the most important reasons behind this is to enhance the transparency and accessibility of research, and to prevent the duplication of work. You can register your clinical trials on registries/database such as CRIS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and WHO ICTRP.
- Obtain informed consent from participants. Obtaining informed consent in a written medium from each subject before conducting your research is essential. If you fail to submit documents regarding informed consent at the time of submission, the journal may reject your manuscript on the grounds of the violation of research ethics. It’s important to note that the requirements and guidelines regarding informed consent may vary from journal to journal. Therefore, please proceed with your work after reviewing the guidelines of your target journal.
- Maintain the confidentiality of the study participants. An important ethical aspect in studies that involve human participants is ensuring that their identity is protected. Their right to privacy and confidentiality should be upheld to avoid a breach of ethics. In case your study needs certain features of the participants to be visible, you should obtain permission accordingly from the relevant authority as well as the participants. Moreover, even in these situations, you should ensure that any information that could reveal their identity is appropriately hidden – else you may run into the chances of facing ethical research issues.
Check if your journal submission package includes relevant consent and approval documents.
When you feel your manuscript is ready for submission, ensure that you include the documents regarding approvals from the relevant authority/s and informed consent before submitting to a journal. In addition, you should check if your manuscript contains a clinical trial registration number.
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