University Research Ethics Committees — A Summary of Research into Their Role, Remit and Conduct

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthea Tinker ◽  
Vera Coomber
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
National Study ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Human Volunteers ◽  
Research On Human Subjects ◽  
The University ◽  
Research Councils

As society becomes more aware of the rights of individuals, ethical issues become of increasing importance. Many research funders, including the research councils, increasingly emphasise research governance and ethical review in their consideration of submitted proposals. Little is known, however, about what universities do over ethical scrutiny and in order to find out the authors undertook a national study of all universities in the United Kingdom. The focus of the study was on human volunteers for research outside the remit of the National Health Service. The key questions being: to what extent do universities undertake ethical scrutiny of research and, if so, how? The broad conclusion is that when this survey was carried out in the autumn of 2003, the majority of universities were aware of the need for the ethical scrutiny of research on human subjects although in many of those universities the scrutiny system was being developed at the time of completion of the questionnaire. In some cases practice appeared to lag behind awareness and whilst there were some very good examples there were also some which were below an ‘acceptable’ standard. Recommendations are made concerning structures, coverage and membership for systems of ethical scrutiny within the university sector.

scholarly journals Ethics in clinical research

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 012-018
Author(s):  
Nagla Hussein Mohamed Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Boards Of Trustees ◽  
Independent Research ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Research On Human Subjects ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
The University

Ethics in medical education research is associated with any research concerning human participants and including anthropological tissue conducted by supervising and scholars of the University. It is associated with the accountability of the researcher, to be honest, and privacy and confidentially and autonomy and respectfully to all participants who affected by their research studies. Objectives of the review: The motivation behind this report is to look at the ethical issues raised when investigating including human members. In addition, to demonstrate the important ethical consideration with academic medical research. Conclusion: Ethics of restorative research on human subjects should be clinically supported and deductively stable. Educated consent is a compulsory segment of any clinical research. Investigators are committed to configuration look into protocols that build up guidelines of logical respectability, safeguard ethical and authoritative issues of the human subjects, and follow the conventions for forthcoming survey by independent research morals boards of trustees.

scholarly journals Evaluating the prospects for university-based ethical governance in artificial intelligence and data-driven innovation

2021 ◽  
pp. 174701612110227
Author(s):  
Christine Hine
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Effective System ◽  
Human Autonomy ◽  
The University ◽  
Ethical Governance

There has been considerable debate around the ethical issues raised by data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence. Ethical principles for the field have focused on the need to ensure that such technologies are used for good rather than harm, that they enshrine principles of social justice and fairness, that they protect privacy, respect human autonomy and are open to scrutiny. While development of such principles is well advanced, there is as yet little consensus on the mechanisms appropriate for ethical governance in this field. This paper examines the prospects for the university ethics committee to undertake effective review of research conducted on data-driven technologies in the university context. Challenges identified include: the relatively narrow focus of university-based ethical review on the human subjects research process and lack of capacity to anticipate downstream impacts; the difficulties of accommodating the complex interplay of academic and commercial interests in the field; and the need to ensure appropriate expertise from both specialists and lay voices. Overall, the challenges identified sharpen appreciation of the need to encourage a joined-up and effective system of ethical governance that fosters an ethical culture rather than replacing ethical reflection with bureaucracy.

scholarly journals Hazy Boundaries: Virtual Communities and Research Ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 86-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Kantanen ◽  
Jyri Manninen
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Online Forums

This paper examines ethical issues specific to research into virtual communities. Drawing on an empirical case with online forums of education experts, we identify the following key issues: publicity versus privacy of the community; the definition of human subjects research; participant recruitment; informed consent; and ethical questions associated with observing virtual communities, and with reporting and disseminating research results. We maintain that different research cultures in different countries can present challenges when studying global forums. Acknowledging the ephemeral characteristics of Internet contexts, this paper argues that ethical considerations should be more case-based, instead of relying on one model for all solutions. We suggest that local ethics committees or institutional review boards could, with their expert knowledge of ethics, provide valuable support for researchers operating in the complex and dynamic terrain of Internet research, as well as in fields and research settings where an ethical review is not a standard part of the research process.

A University Wide Model for the Ethical Review of Human Subjects Research

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryn Williams-Jones ◽  
Søren Holm
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Research ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Research Ethics Committees ◽  
Ethics Review ◽  
Wide System ◽  
Tiered System ◽  
The University

In the United Kingdom (and elsewhere), there are moves to extend formal ethical review of research involving human subjects beyond the traditional oversight by NHS local or multi-centre research ethics committees of medical or clinical research, to also encompass all ‘non-clinical’ research involving human subjects. This paper describes and analyses the development and implementation of a model for ethical review within the university sector. At Cardiff University, a devolved or two-tiered system of ethics review has been created in which a top-level university research ethics committee provides policy advice to and oversight of school-based research ethics committees that engage in formal ethics review of research conducted in their respective schools. We describe the system and reflect on the challenges and benefits of implementing such a coordinated and comprehensive university-wide system of ethics review.

Ethical Review of Research on Human Subjects at Unilever: Reflections on Governance

Bioethics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 284-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Sheehan ◽  
Vernon Marti ◽  
Tony Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Research On Human Subjects

Ethics Review on Externally- Sponsored Research in Developing Countries

2009 ◽  
pp. 112-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Bagheri
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Ethics Committee ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Sponsored Research ◽  
Poor Countries

This chapter elaborates on some of the existing concerns and ethical issues that may arise when biomedical research protocols are proposed or funded by research institutes (private or public) in developed countries but human subjects are recruited from resource-poor countries. Over the last two decades, clinical research conducted by sponsors and researchers from developed countries to be carried out in developing countries has increased dramatically. The article examines the situations in which vulnerable populations in developing countries are likely to be exploited and/or there is no guarantee of any benefit from the research product, if proven successful, to the local community. By examining the structure and functions of ethics committees in developing countries, the article focuses on the issues which a local ethics committee should take into account when reviewing externally-sponsored research. In conclusion, by emphasizing capacity building for local research ethics committees, the article suggests that assigning the national ethics committee (if one exists) or an ethics committee specifically charged with the task of reviewing externally-sponsored proposals would bring better results in protecting human subjects as well as ensuring benefit-sharing with the local community.

scholarly journals Negotiating Responsibility for Navigating Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research: A Review of Miller, Birch, Mauthner, and Jessop’s (2012) Ethics in Qualitative Research, Second Edition

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle McCarron
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Research Ethics Committees ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Institutional Review ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Research Ethics Boards

Ethics in Qualitative Research (Miller, Birch Mauthner, & Jessop, 2012), now in its second edition, uses a feminist framework to present a variety of issues pertinent to qualitative researchers. Topics include traditional challenges for qualitative researchers (e.g., access to potential participants, informed consent, overlapping roles), as well as those that have garnered more attention in recent years, particularly with regard to uses and consequences of technological advances in research. The book is critical of committees whose function it is to review proposed research and grant research ethics approval (e.g., University Research Ethics Committees [URECs], Research Ethics Boards [REBs], and Institutional Review Boards [IRBs]). The authors of this book are situated within the United Kingdom. The editors take the position that ethics oversight by the researchers themselves is preferable and that such boards and committees are not well equipped to review qualitative research. A rebuttal to this position is presented within this review. Ethics in Qualitative Research provides a good overview of ethical issues that researchers face and is effective in merging theory with practice. It would be strengthened by avoiding the debate over URECs or by offering concrete suggestions for how URECs can improve their reviews of qualitative research.

Tuberculosis surveillance and its discontents: the ethical paradox

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
R. Bayer ◽  
A. L. Fairchild ◽  
M. Zignol ◽  
K. G. Castro
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Surveillance ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
World Health ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Health Organization

In June 2017, the World Health Organization issued the Guidelines on Ethical Issues in Public Health Surveillance. Using the frame of public health ethics, the guidance declared that countries have an affirmative duty to undertake surveillance and that the global community had an obligation to support those countries whose resources limited their capacity. The centrality of TB surveillance has long been recognized as a matter of public health practice and ethics. Nevertheless, contemporary global realities make clear that TB surveillance falls far short of the goal of uniform notification. It is this reality that necessitated the paradoxical turn to research studies that require informed consent and human subjects' ethical review, the very burdens that mandated notification were designed to overcome.

scholarly journals OC 8716 ENHANCING RESEARCH ETHICS REVIEW CAPACITY IN SUDAN

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A16.3-A17
Author(s):  
Shaza Abass ◽  
Sara-Lavinia Brair ◽  
Shahd Osman ◽  
Henry Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Research Ethics ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Human Subjects Research ◽  
Review System ◽  
Consensus Document ◽  
Post Test

BackgroundIn Sudan, there is an increase in health research in a situation of scarce resources and limited counteractive quality assurance in research ethics. The aim of this project was to enhance the ethical review system in Sudan.MethodsOur framework for enhancing the ethical review capacity was based on the context of Sudan with emphasis on governance, coordination, feasibility, efficiency and sustainability. Activities conducted to achieve our goals included reviewing the guidelines that govern human subjects research, enhancing the governance of national authorities (National Health Research Ethics Committee and National Medicine and Poisons Board), improving coordination between the national authorities by developing a consensus clarifying their roles and functions, capacity building for the oversight bodies and institutional ethical review committees (RECs) as well as establishing a network of research ethics committees.ResultsThe guidelines that govern human subjects research in Sudan were reviewed and updated. In addition, a consensus document was endorsed to clarify the roles of the national regulatory authorities creating channels of coordination and cooperation between them and institutional RECs. Thirty-nine RECs from different parts of Sudan have been trained and the results of the pre/post test have shown an increase in the knowledge score among trainees (p<0.05). The project has also provided a platform for sharing experiences and maintaining partnerships with regional and international institutes in addition to provision of technical support for newly established RECs.ConclusionWe believe that the array of activities conducted through this project had enhanced the governance, coordination, feasibility and, efficiency of the ethical review system in Sudan.

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