What is ethics?
• Ethics refers to a set of moral principles or
values.
Ethical Issues in Research
• Research ethics are relevant for scientific
integrity, human rights and dignity, and
collaboration between science and society.
• Research ethics were developed due to scandals of
ethical failures are littered throughout history eg.
• The Tuskegee syphilis study was an American public
health study that violated research ethics throughout its
40-year run from 1932 to 1972. In this study, 600 young • Ethical failures like these resulted in severe harm to
black men were deceived into participating with a participants, wasted resources, and lower trust in
promise of free healthcare that was never fulfilled. science and scientists.
• Nazi concentration camp doctors and researchers
performed painful and horrific experiments on • This is why all research institutions have strict ethical
thousands of imprisoned people in concentration camps guidelines for performing research.
from 1942 to 1945.
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Declaration of Helsinki (1964)
• In 1947, the ethical standards of human • Developed by the World Medical Association to remedy
experimentation came about after the Nuremberg deficiencies of the Nuremberg Code
tribunal passed judgment on Nazi war crimes, which • It has been amended five times, most recently in 2000
included atrocious human subject experiments. • Required medical researchers to clearly define study
• The Nuremberg code states that experiments on protocols
humans are permissible only if: • Protocols had to be submitted to independent ethical review
• the results will benefit society; committees (IRB) for approval
• the subjects involved freely provide consent and can The Belmont Report (1979)
withdraw at any time; and no harm, loss of chance or • Included 3 principles of research ethics
discomfort to the subject will result from the investigation. • Autonomy – the principle of respect for persons; especially those
with diminished autonomy
• Vulnerable subjects (i.e. persons with diminished • Beneficence – supports the well-being of research subjects by
autonomy) are entitled to additional protections. maximizing benefits while minimizing harms
• Justice – the distribution of the benefits, burdens, and risks of
research should be equitable between societal groups
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• Voluntary participation
Ethical considerations All your research participants are free to join in or out of
• These are a set of principles that guide your research the study at any point in time without any coercion.
designs and practices. There will be no consequence for not joining the research
either
• Researchers working with people have to clearly outline
how they will deal with these issues in research
proposals • Informed consent
Participants should know the purpose, benefits, risks, and
funding behind the study before they agree or decline to
• The following ethical principles which are protected by join.
international law and many scientific codes of conduct • what the study is about
are usually considered • the risks and benefits of taking part
• voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity, • how long the study will take
confidentiality, potential for harm, results communication • your supervisor’s contact information and the institution’s
approval number
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• Confidentiality
• Informed consent contd.
All participants have a right to privacy, so you should
For children, you will need informed permission from protect their personal data for as long as you store or use
their parents or guardians. Although children cannot give it. Even when you can’t collect data anonymously, you
informed consent, it’s best to also ask for should secure confidentiality whenever you can by
their assent (agreement) to participate, depending on keeping the data in a very safe place.
their age and maturity level.
• Potential for harm
As a researcher, you have to consider all possible sources
• Anonymity of harm to participants. Harm can come in many different
You don’t know the identities of the participants. forms. Physical, social, psychological and all other types
Personally identifiable data is not collected. of harm are kept to an absolute minimum.
Pseudonymization or random numbers should be given to
anonymize the participants.
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• Psychological harm: Sensitive questions or tasks may trigger
negative emotions such as shame or anxiety. • Results communication
• Social harm: Participation can involve social risks, public Good science communication is honest, reliable, and
embarrassment, or stigma. credible. Make your results are as transparent as possible.
• Physical harm: Pain or injury can result from the study You ensure your work is free of plagiarism or research
procedures. misconduct, and you accurately represent your results.
• Legal harm: Reporting sensitive data could lead to legal risks • Plagiarism means submitting others’ works as your own.
or a breach of privacy. Although it can be unintentional, copying someone else’s
• Disclose all possible risks of harm to participants before work without proper credit amounts to stealing.
getting informed consent. If there is a risk of harm, • Self-plagiarism is when you republish or re-submit parts of
prepare to provide participants with resources or your own papers or reports without properly citing your
original work.
counselling or medical services if needed.
• Research misconduct means making up or falsifying data,
manipulating data analyses, or misrepresenting results in
research reports. It’s a form of academic fraud.
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Animal subject research
• Why use animals in research?
It is generally thought that it may be necessary to use
laboratory animals in some cases in order to create
improvements for people, animals or the environment.
In that case ethical considerations have to be made for them
because
(i) Animals have an intrinsic value which must be respected.
(ii) Animals are sentient creatures with the capacity to feel
pain, and the interests of animals must therefore be taken
into consideration.
(iii) Our treatment of animals, including the use of animals in
research, is an expression of our attitudes and influences us as
moral actors.
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Animal subject research is guided by the “ 3 Rs”
• Refine: refining experiments to cause less pain and
distress
• Reduce: reducing the number of animals used if
possible
• Replacement: replacing experiments on animals with
alternative techniques such as
• higher-order animals with lower-order ones
• Cell cultures
• Computer models
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