Research Ethics | Definition, Principles & Examples

When conducting research, especially research that involves human participants, it’s important to adhere to research ethics. Research ethics are principles that provide a framework for researchers to distinguish “right” from “wrong.” They guide scientists throughout the research process to maximize the benefits of their work while minimizing the potential for harm.

Research ethics principles vary between countries and organizations but share common goals:

  • Protect the rights and privacy of research participants
  • Maintain academic or scientific integrity
  • Enhance the validity of research

What are research ethics?

Research ethics are principles to help ensure that scientific research is conducted responsibly and in a manner that minimizes any potential risks to participants. Different research areas, countries, and organizations have defined sets of principles to guide scientists in conducting ethical work.

Ethics throughout the research process

It is important to consider research ethics at all stages of the research process. The suggestions below reflect general best practices. When conducting your own study, you should consult and adhere to your own institution’s ethics policies.

Getting ethics approval for a study

Before data collection can begin, a researcher must obtain approval from an institutional review board (IRB), which may also be called a research ethics board (REB) or an independent ethics committee (IEC).

An IRB reviews a proposed research project to ensure that the questions being asked are relevant and answerable, participant recruitment and data collection are acceptable, and the potential benefits of the work outweigh any risks. If a study is rejected by an IRB, the researcher must modify their proposal to address any concerns before resubmitting the study for approval.

Collecting data

Protecting the rights and welfare of participants is paramount when collecting data for a research study. The table below summarizes important considerations when working with human participants.

Research ethics considerations for data collection
Ethical Issue Definition
Voluntary participation Participants choose whether to participate in a study and are free to leave the study at any time, for any reason. Participants should not be bribed or coerced into participating in a study.
Informed consent Before agreeing to participate, potential participants are told about the purpose, benefits, risks, and funding of a study. A consent form is often used to obtain informed consent. If a study requires deception, the participant must be debriefed afterwards.
Confidentiality and anonymity The researcher must protect the privacy of participants and their data throughout the research process. Anonymity means no personally identifiable data is collected; confidentiality means the researcher collects personally identifiable information but doesn’t publish it. If total anonymity or confidentiality are not possible, the participant should be informed before agreeing to participate. Data should be stored securely and destroyed when no longer needed.
Potential for harm The researcher should identify and attempt to minimize any potential harm to participants, whether it be physical, emotional, psychological, or economical. The expected benefits of a study should justify any risks participants are exposed to.

Carefully considering each of these issues when collecting, analyzing, and storing data helps protect participants.

Note
Special care must be taken when working with vulnerable populations that may have difficulty providing voluntary, informed consent or are at risk of exploitation (e.g., children, prisoners, people with disabilities).

When conducting research, carefully consider any vulnerabilities that may be present in participant groups you are working with and consult your institution’s IRB for more detailed guidance on how to work responsibly with vulnerable individuals.

Disseminating results

Research ethics are also relevant when publishing findings from studies. Scientific misconduct may involve plagiarism (stealing someone else’s ideas) or publishing fabricated (made-up) data. If a researcher realizes they made a mistake after they have published findings from a study, they should issue a correction or redact their research.

Ensuring that results from research are reported honestly and accurately builds public trust in the scientific process and preserves scientific integrity. Credit should also be given to individuals who contributed ideas or helped conduct a study; this practice helps encourage collaboration within the scientific community.

Research ethics principles

Research ethics principles vary across fields, countries, and international organizations, However, many modern policies have been largely influenced by seminal historical documents.

The Nuremberg Code

The Nuremberg Code is a foundational document in medical research ethics. It was formed in 1947 in response to atrocities committed by physicians associated with the Nazi party during World War II. Before this time, there was no formal international document on research ethics. The Nuremberg Code has 10 points, summarized as follows:

  1. The voluntary consent of human subjects is essential.
  2. Experimental outcomes should benefit society and should not be obtainable through other methods.
  3. Experiments should be designed based on existing research.
  4. An experiment should not be conducted if there is a chance of death or disabling injury.
  5. Experiments should be conducted in a way that prevents unnecessary physical and mental suffering.
  6. The risks of a study should never exceed the potential benefits.
  7. Research should be carefully planned and conducted in an environment that protects the subject from any possibility of injury.
  8. Only qualified scientists should execute a study.
  9. Participants should be allowed to leave the study at any time.
  10. A researcher must end an experiment if they believe there is any risk of injury, disability, or death.

Although the Nuremberg Code has not been officially adopted by any country or organization, it has been immensely influential in guiding the creation of other research ethics codes and principles.

The Declaration of Helsinki

The Declaration of Helsinki was developed by the World Medical Association in 1964. Like the Nuremberg Code, its focus is on ethical principles for medical research. It has been updated and revised several times since its conception.

The 2013 revision of the Declaration of Helsinki contains 37 articles, or paragraphs, that address issues such as informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, risk minimization, and the publication of findings.

The Belmont Report

The Belmont Report was released in 1978, partially in response to the ethical issues of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. It was developed by a group of physicians, lawyers, and scientists.

The Belmont Report has three ethical principles:

  1. Respect for persons: participants should be treated with respect and participate voluntarily after providing informed consent.
  2. Beneficence: the benefits of research should be maximized while minimizing risk to participants.
  3. Justice: all potential participants should be able to benefit from the research.

In the field of psychology, the Belmont Report has been extended to create the American Psychological Association (APA)’s five Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.

Examples of ethical failures

Content warning
This section contains descriptions of unethical medical practices, human suffering, and racial violence.

Many research ethics policies were shaped in response to past atrocities, when scientists abused and exploited participants and conducted studies with no regard for human safety and well-being. The examples below underscore the importance of ethical guidelines in research.

Nazi experiments
Between 1942 and 1945, researchers in Nazi Germany conducted dozens of experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. The procedures were barbaric in nature, designed to test questions such as the limits of human survival in extreme conditions or the effectiveness of mass sterilization techniques.

The number of documented victims of these experiments exceeds 15,000. Thousands were killed, and many survivors experienced debilitating, permanent injuries.

The lack of voluntary participation and informed consent, the risk of death and physical harm, and the inhumane conditions of these experiments all constitute gross ethical misconduct.

The Nuremberg Code was created in response to the atrocities committed by researchers affiliated with the Nazi party. However, many researchers disregarded the Nuremberg Code, perhaps because they felt policies associated with Nazi war crimes were not relevant to their own work. Unfortunately, research ethics violations are not restricted to times of war.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
This study was run by the United States Public Health Service and the Centre for Disease Control from 1932–1972. In 1932, 600 Black men were recruited under the guise of receiving free medical care.

Two-thirds of the men enrolled in this study had been diagnosed with syphilis; the other third served as an uninfected control group. The men were told that they would be treated for “bad blood;” however, the true purpose of the study was to observe the effects of untreated syphilis.

Men in the study were intentionally given ineffective placebo treatments and prevented from seeking proper treatment, even though penicillin was already being used to treat syphilis in the 1940s. Researchers coerced men to continue participating by offering free medical exams, free meals, free transportation to clinics, and even free funeral services for those who died from their condition.

Though the study was originally intended to last only 6 months, it extended over 40 years, until its existence was publicized and it was judged to be medically unjustified.

The ethical issues associated with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study contributed to the creation of the Belmont Report.

Frequently asked questions about research ethics

Why are research ethics important?

Research ethics are principles that guide scientists, helping them distinguish right from wrong when conducting research. Research ethics help protect the people involved in scientific studies and ensure the integrity of scientific research.

What are the APA’s 5 principles of research ethics?

The American Psychological Association (APA) has five principles to guide psychologists in conducting ethical research and scientific work.

Beneficence and nonmaleficence: protect the welfare of research participants and do no harm.

Fidelity and responsibility: serve the best interests of society and the specific communities impacted by research and scientific work.

Integrity: conduct and teach psychology in an accurate and honest manner.

Justice: ensure that all people have equal access to the benefits of psychology services and research.

Respect for people’s rights and dignity: show consideration for people’s dignity and their right to privacy, confidentiality, and autonomy.

What are NIH’s 7 principles of ethics in research?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has defined seven principles to protect clinical research participants and promote research ethics:

Social and clinical value: the scientific advances of a research study should justify the costs or risks of conducting this research.

Scientific validity: a study should be designed to address an answerable question using feasible and accepted research methods.

Fair subject selection: participants should be selected based on the scientific aims of the study and should not be included or excluded for reasons unrelated to research goals.

Favorable risk-benefit ratio: the potential risks to participants should be minimized and should be outweighed by potential benefits.

Independent review: an independent review panel should ensure a study is ethical before research begins.

Informed consent: participants should decide whether to voluntarily participate in a study after learning about its research question, methods, potential risks, and benefits.

Respect for potential and enrolled subjects: individuals should be treated with respect throughout the research process.

What is an institutional review board (IRB)?

An institutional review board (IRB) is a committee that reviews proposed studies involving human participants to ensure research ethics are being followed. In most countries, a study must be approved by an IRB before data can be collected.

An IRB is sometimes called a research ethics board (REB), an ethical review board (ERB), or an independent ethics committee (IEC).

What’s the difference between anonymity and confidentiality?

Anonymity and confidentiality are both important aspects of research ethics.

Anonymity means that researchers do not collect personal information that can be used to identify a participant or that someone’s responses cannot be linked to their identity.

Confidentiality means that only the researchers conducting a study can link study responses or data to individual participants.

If you run a study and do not know who your participants are (i.e., you collect no identifying information), your data are anonymous. If you know who your participants are but no one else does (i.e., you collect identifying information but don’t publish it), your data are confidential.

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Emily Heffernan, PhD

Emily has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, a master's degree in psychology, and a PhD in computational neuroscience. Her areas of expertise include data analysis and research methods.