The Role of Research Ethics Committees: Making a Fair Offer

"In this paper, I engage with the on-going debate about the nature of the task that research ethics committees (RECs) have in coming to assess the ethics of research proposals. Some have argued that the role of RECs is to protect participants from harm in the context of researchers who want to benefit future people. Others have argued that the role of RECs is primarily to ensure that potential participants are provided with full information – enough to make an informed choice. On this later view, RECs protect choice rather than restrict it. I argue that both of these orientations are mistaken and that the role of RECs more akin to a societal overseer who ensures that the research is worthwhile and, most importantly, that it presents a fair offer to potential participants. On this view, the REC’s role is to balance potential harms to participants with the potential benefits of the research in the context of presenting the choice about whether to participate to potential participants. "

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Philosophers in research ethics committees—what do they think they’re doing? An empirical-ethical analysis

Medicine Health Care and Philosophy ◽

10.1007/s11019-021-10044-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Gauckler

Keyword(s):

Research Ethics ◽

Applied Ethics ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Research Ethics Committees ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Discussion Section ◽

Philosophical Perspective ◽

Level 3 ◽

Practical Level

AbstractResearch ethics committees in Germany usually don’t have philosophers as members and if so, only contingently, not provided for by statute. This is interesting from a philosophical perspective, assuming that ethics is a discipline of philosophy. It prompts the question what role philosophers play in those committees they can be found in. Eight qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the self-perception of philosophers regarding their contribution to research ethics committees. The results show that the participants generally don’t view themselves as ethics experts. They are rather unanimous on the competencies they think they contribute to the committee but not as to whether those are philosophical competencies or applied ethical ones. In some cases they don’t see a big difference between their role and the role of the jurist member. In the discussion section of this paper I bring up three topics, prompted by the interviews, that need to be addressed: (1) I argue that the interviewees’ unwillingness to call themselves ethics experts might have to do with a too narrow understanding of ethics expertise. (2) I argue that the disagreement among the interviewees concerning the relationship between moral philosophy and applied ethics might be explained on a theoretical or on a practical level. (3) I argue that there is some lack of clarity concerning the relationship between ethics and law in research ethics committees and that further work needs to be done here. All three topics, I conclude, need further investigation.

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