Research ethics are basically the set of ethical considerations a research team has to

consider while conducting research. They are in place to protect the participants of a study
from physical, psychological or social harm through participation in the study.

Examples include:

 Informed consent - participants must consent to their taking part in the

study and to do so they must have enough information to make an
informed decision. This includes any risks inherent in the study (side effects
of drugs or treatments given). There is scope to deceive the participants
here if it is relevant to the study but most of the info they get should be
open, honest and clear.
 Right to withdraw - participants can, at any time, choose to withdraw from
the study and the research team should allow them to do so.
 Privacy and data protection - as per Data Protection Act and now GDPR,
data collected by any organisation is protected and there are rules about
how it should be stored, managed and used. This mainly applies to research
in the context of publication. All published data (especially interview
transcripts and observation notes) should be anonymised. Usually names
are changed (a common method is to call them by letters, for example Miss
A, Mr D, Mrs F). The research team also have an obligation to not use the
data for any other purpose than the research the participants signed up for
and ideally should be destroying the personal data (addresses, phone
numbers, email addresses) after the work is done.
 Deception - it is sometimes necessary to deceive participants in a trial.
Usually this is for psychological research (famous examples include the
Milgram and Sanford studies in the 60s) where the participant knowing the
purpose of the study will bias their responses. Research ethics say you
should debrief the participants after the study is over to tell them what you
were really looking for.
All of this is managed by an ethics committee - which all universities and hospitals will have.
Before any study can be performed, the researchers have to present details of it to the
committee for approval. This includes the methods being used and what is planned to be
done with the results. The committee will discuss any ethical issues they see in the proposal
and ask how these will be handled and will then make a ruling. They may reject outright.
They may state things that have to be done before they will allow it. They may pass it
without change. For example, one of my studies was passed but on the proviso we took no
more than 60ml of blood from each patient - this limit being set to ensure the comfort and
safety of the participants, some of whom would have been elderly and some with long term
conditions.