Ethical norms and practices are integral to the conduct of any scientific research studies and especially so when dealing with human or animal study subjects. Adherence to ethical norms helps build the credibility and integrity of research. It ensures that the rights of people are respected, there is responsible conduct of research, and fairness and transparency in the research process.
The rules of ethical research
The conduct of good research necessitates all researchers and academicians to follow certain ethical requirements. Some key aspects are discussed below.
Seek requisite approvals: Before starting your research study that involves human or animal subjects, it is required of all researchers to seek and obtain the necessary approvals from the concerned organizations, ethics committee and even the funding agencies.
Adhere to stipulated guidelines: The stipulated guidelines to be followed while conducting research on human and animal subjects must be identified and strictly adhered to by the researchers from the very beginning.
Pre-register clinical trials: Pre-registration of clinical trials is mandatory and is an important ethical practice to be followed by all researchers.
Harm reduction: Take all necessary measures to reduce any physical or psychological harm to the study participants.
Do’s of research ethics
- Ensure ethical approvals and follow ethical guidelines in studies involving human and animal subjects.
- Obtain informed consent from participants of the study. They should be made aware of the objective of the study and to any risks or benefits.
- Data and results of the study should be accurately presented.
- Maintain accurate records of the study process. Concerted efforts should be made towards handling and storing data securely.
- Always state any conflicts of interests.
- Adhere to intellectual property rights.
Don’ts of research ethics
- Avoid fabrication and falsification of data.
- Avoid plagiarism in all forms.
- Do not use data or ideas that you access while reviewing grant proposals or research papers, without permission.
- Avoid bias at all stages of the research process and any form of discriminatory practices.
Ethical considerations researchers should always keep in mind
Objectivity
Objectivity in research requires that you strive to eliminate bias as far as possible at different stages of the research process as in sampling, data gathering, analysis and interpretation, peer review and so on. It is equally important to avoid errors. Errors and bias can seriously affect the reproducibility of your research.
Integrity
Honesty is an imperative value needed in the advancement of scientific knowledge as it impacts the trustworthiness of science. It is crucial for researchers to report data, procedures, methods and findings honestly. Dishonest practices can be in the form of fabrication or mis-representation of data, making up data, cherry picking data, failure in reporting important aspects and so forth.
Transparency
Building further on the value of honesty, transparency involves providing all relevant information utilized for the research. This enables other researchers to understand the processes that led to your conclusions and also in evaluating the findings. Transparency also involves researchers constructively listening to and responding to conflicting ideas and criticisms which is essential for the advancement of knowledge.
Privacy
While eliciting data from and conducting research on human subjects, it is essential that the privacy of the individuals concerned are protected. Special care must be taken in handling persons who experienced violence, persons with disabilities, vulnerable groups including children and the elderly.
Responsible publication
In a haste to increase the number of publications to aid career growth, there can be increasing focus on the volume and less on the quality of publications. Ethical considerations recommend that publishing should be targeted towards advancing knowledge in the field of study.
Avoiding plagiarism
Copying ideas or text from another person’s published work and passing it as one’s own, without giving due credit to the author, amounts to plagiarism. This is a serious ethical issue leading to grave consequences. This also holds true for self-plagiarism. It is important for researchers and students to understand very early on what constitutes plagiarism to avoid it completely.
Non-discrimination
Respect for team members and colleagues is important in a research process. There should not be any discrimination based on sex, race, age, ethnicity and so on.
Adhering to guidelines for animal/human studies
Gaining a good understanding of the various guidelines established for human and animal studies is essential. Researchers need to take extra care in strictly adhering to such guidelines.
R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.
Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today!
