Ethics

in
Research
> Research Ethics Definition
> History of Ethics in Research
> 4 Basic Principles of Ethics in Research
Research Ethics Definition

Research ethics is the application of moral

rules and professional codes of conduct to
the collection, analysis, reporting, and
publication of information about research
subjects, in particular active acceptance of
subjects' right to privacy, confidentiality, and
informed consent (Encyclopedia.com, 2020).
Research Ethics Definition

✓Research ethics concerns the responsibility

of researchers to be honest and respectful to
all individuals who are affected by their
research studies or their reports of the studies’
results.

✓Research ethics provides guidelines for the

responsible conduct of research. In addition, it
educates and monitors scientists conducting
research to ensure a high ethical standard.
Research Ethics

According to Canterbury Christ Church University (2005), ethical

approval for research is necessary for the following reasons:

(a) to protect research participants’ rights and welfare, and reduce

the risk of physical and psychological discomfort, damage, and/or
threats appearing because of research procedures;

(b) to protect the rights of the researchers to carry out a lawful

research and reputation of the university implementing or supporting
research;
Research Ethics

According to Canterbury Christ Church University (2005), ethical

approval for research is necessary for the following reasons:

(c) to reduce the probability of claims for negligence against specific

researchers, universities, and all cooperating persons or
organizations;

(d) because research funding agencies and scientific journals in their

applications for getting research funding, or as a condition
necessary for publication, are increasingly demanding ethical
principles wording.
Samples of Unethical Research

1. Nazi Medicine: Experimentation on Concentration Camp Prisoners

During World War II

➢Breaking and re-breaking of bones ( to see how many

times they could be broken before healing failed to occur).

➢Exposure to extremes of high altitude and freezing water

(to see how long a person could survive).
Samples of Unethical Research

2. Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Case in New York, July 1963

➢The hospital was accused of permitting cancer cells to

be injected into 22 noncancerous patients without their
consent during experiments.

➢The doctors did not inform the patients that live cancer
cells were being used or that the experiment was
designed to measure the patient’s ability to reject foreign
cells.
Samples of Unethical Research

3. Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, 1932-1972

➢A secret experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service
to study the progression of the deadly venereal disease —
without treatment. The participants were promised free meals,
free physicals and free burial insurance.
➢The study recruited 600 black men, of which 399 were diagnosed
with syphilis and 201 were a control group without the disease.
The researchers never obtained informed consent from the men
and never told the men with syphilis that they were not being
treated but were simply being watched until they died and their
bodies examined for ravages of the disease.
Samples of Unethical Research

4. Milgram Obedience Study, 1963

➢Milgram instructed participants to use electric shocks to
punish other individuals when they made errors during a
learning task. The intensity of the shocks was gradually
increased until the participants were administering what
appeared to be dangerously strong and painful shocks.

The participant ➢In fact, no shocks were used in the study (“the shocked”
individuals were pretending); however, the participants
believed that they were inflicting real pain and suffering.
Samples of Unethical Research

4. Milgram Obedience Study, 1963

➢Although the participants in Milgram’s study sustained no

physical harm, they suffered shame and embarrassment for
having behaved inhumanely toward their fellow human beings.

➢The participants entered the study thinking that they were

normal, considerate human beings, but they left with the
knowledge that they could all too easily behave inhumanely.
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

A. Nuremberg Code

B. The Belmont Report of 1979

C. The Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association)

D. Council for International Organizations of Medical

Sciences (CIOMS) Guidelines
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

A. Nuremberg Code
➢The Nuremberg Code aimed to protect human subjects from enduring
the kind of cruelty and exploitation the prisoners endured at
concentration camps. Nuremberg Code is a set of 10 guidelines for
the ethical treatment of human participants in research.
Purpose
➢ Informed consent is absolutely essential
➢ Qualified researchers must use appropriate research designs
➢ There must be a favorable risk/ benefit ratio
➢ Participants must be free to stop at any time
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

A. Nuremberg Code
The 10 elements of the code are:
1. Voluntary consent is essential
2. The results of any experiment must be for the greater good of society
3. Human experiments should be based on previous animal experimentation
4. Experiments should be conducted by avoiding physical/mental suffering and
injury
5. No experiments should be conducted if it is believed to cause death/disability
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

A. Nuremberg Code
The 10 elements of the code are:
6. The risks should never exceed the benefits
7. Adequate facilities should be used to protect subjects
8. Experiments should be conducted only by qualified scientists
9. Subjects should be able to end their participation at any time
10. The scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment when
injury, disability, or death is likely to occur
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

B. The Belmont Report of 1979

➢The Belmont Report is the result of over four years of meetings
that began in 1976 and were conducted by the National
Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical
and Behavioral Research.

➢The Belmont Report identifies basic ethical principles for

conducting research that involve human subjects and sets forth
guidelines to assure these principles are followed throughout the
research process.
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

B. The Belmont Report of 1979

(1) Individuals should consent to participate in studies and those who cannot give
their consent, such as children, people with diminished abilities, and prisoners,
need to be protected.
(2) The researcher not harm the participants, minimize risks, and maximize possible
benefits.
(3) fairness in procedures for selecting participants.
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

C. The Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association)

➢The Declaration of Helsinki is a set of ethical principles

regarding human experimentation developed for the medical
community by the World Medical Association (WMA).[1] It is
widely regarded as the cornerstone document on human
research ethics.
➢It is not a legally binding instrument under the international law,
but instead draws its authority from the degree to which it has
been codified in, or influenced, national or regional legislation
and regulations.
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

C. The Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association)

➢“The well-being of the subject should take precedence over the interests of
science and society”
➢Consent should be in writing
➢Use caution if participant is in dependent relationship with researcher
➢Limited use of placebo, especially if treatment is available
➢Greater access to benefit once research is concluded
History of Ethics in Research (Ethics Code)

D. Council for International Organizations of Medical

Sciences (CIOMS) Guidelines

➢The CIOMS guidelines address mainly ethical justification and

scientific validity of research; requirements for ethical review and
informed consent; consideration of vulnerability of individuals,
groups, communities, and populations; women as research
subjects; equity regarding burdens and benefits; choice of control
in clinical trials; confidentiality; compensation for injury;
strengthening of national or local capacity for ethical review; and
obligations of sponsors to provide health care services.
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

1. Respect for Autonomy

➢Choices of autonomous individuals should
be respected
➢People incapable of making their own
choices should be protected
➢Voluntary subjects need adequate
information for decision-making
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

1. Respect for Autonomy

The following moral rules or obligations are derived from the application
of the principle of respect for autonomy:
1. Tell the truth.
2. Respect the privacy of others.
3. Protect confidential information.
4. Obtain consent for interventions with patients.
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

2. Beneficence
➢The principle or rule of beneficence refers to a
normative statement of a moral obligation to act
for the others’ benefit, helping them to further their
important and legitimate interests, often by
preventing or removing possible harms.
➢Maximize possible benefits, minimize potential
harm
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

2. Beneficence
The principle of beneficence supports the following moral rules or
obligations:
1. Protect and defend the rights of others.
2. Prevent harm from occurring to others.
3. Remove conditions that will cause harm.
4. Help persons with disabilities.
5. Rescue persons in danger.
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

3. Justice
➢This principle requires that researchers are
always fair to the participants in their research and
that the needs of research participants should
always come before the objectives of the study.

➢May not exploit or exclude vulnerable individuals

who may benefit without good reason
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

3. Justice
The following arguments (rules) are supported by the principle of justice:
1. To each person an equal share
2. To each person according to need
3. To each person according to effort
4. To each person according to contribution
5. To each person according to merit.
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

4. Non-maleficence
➢Non-maleficence means non-harming or inflicting
the least harm possible to reach a beneficial
outcome.

➢The principle of non-maleficence holds that there

is an obligation not to inflict harm on others. It is
closely associated with the Latin maxim primum
non nocere (first do no harm).
4 Basic Principles of Research on Human Subjects

4. Non-maleficence
The principle of non-maleficence supports the following rules:

1. Do not kill.
2. Do not cause pain or suffering.
3. Do not incapacitate.
4. Do not cause offense.
Difference Between Beneficence and Non-maleficence

➢Beneficence is an action you take, non-maleficence is when you avoid an

action.

BENEFICENCE NON-MALEFICENCE
1. Rescuing a person from drowning 1. not saying hurtful things to another person

2. encouraging a person to quit smoking 2. not giving harmful drugs

3. building a home for a homeless person 3. stopping a medication that is shown to be harmful

4. educating people about general sanitation 4. refusing to provide a treatment that has not been
shown to be effective.
Other Principles of Research Ethics

Ethical Principle Description

Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do
Honesty not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data.

Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis, data interpretation, peer
Objectivity review, personnel decisions, grant writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of
research.
Keep your promises and agreements; act with sincerity; strive for consistency of
Integrity thought and action.

Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own
Carefulness work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities.
Other Principles of Research Ethics

Ethical Principle Description

Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to criticism and new ideas.
Openness

Respect for Intellectual Honor patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Give credit
Property where credit is due. Never plagiarize.

Protect confidential communications, such as papers or grants submitted for

Confidentiality publication, personnel records, trade or military secrets, and patient records.

Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on the basis of sex, race,

Non-Discrimination ethnicity, or other factors that are not related to their scientific competence and
integrity.
Other Principles of Research Ethics

Ethical Principle Description

The researcher must have knowledge of relevant laws for his/her work as well as
Legitimacy institutional and government policies and comply with them.

Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate social harms through
Social Responsibility research, public education, and advocacy.

The researcher must avoid careless errors and omissions. It is important to

Prudence evaluate carefully and critically both own and colleagues’ work.