RSS 1.0Research Ethics by Disciplines
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Research Ethics by Disciplines is focusing on main disciplines of research and related specific ethical concerns.
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Effective strategies for research integrity training - a meta-analysisThis article reviews educational efforts to promote a responsible conduct of research (RCR) that were reported in scientific publications between 1990 and early 2020. Unlike previous reviews that were exploratory in nature, this review aimed to test eleven hypotheses on effective training strategies. The achievement of different learning outcomes was analyzed independently using moderator analysis and meta-regression, whereby 75 effect sizes from 30 studies were considered. The analysis shows that the achievement of different learning outcomes ought to be investigated separately. The attainment of knowledge strongly benefited from individualized learning, as well as from the discussion and practical application of ethical standards. Contrarily, not covering ethical standards tended to be a feature of successful courses, when looking at other learning outcomes. Overall, experiential learning approaches where learners were emotionally involved in thinking about how to deal with problems were most effective. Primarily intellectual deliberation about ethical problems, often considered the “gold standard” of ethics education, was significantly less effective. Several findings from previous reviews, e.g., the preferability of mono-disciplinary groups, could not be replicated with multivariate analysis. Several avenues for future research efforts are suggested to advance knowledge on the effectiveness of research integrity training.
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The Future of Theological Ethics: Response to Robin Lovin and Nigel BiggarThis paper argues that the theological ethics of the future will be both more authentically Christian and more public, and briefly illustrates that claim in relation to the polity and to the academy. It argues, first, that Christian political reasoning should not be preoccupied with liberal anxieties about epistemic criteria for public reasoning, but rather turn its attention to the institutional telos of the polity, the political common good; and be prepared to speak in an openly Christian voice where appropriate. It argues, second, that scholarly reasoning offered by theological ethicists to the academy will be more effective the better it understands the complementary roles fulfilled by theology and other academic disciplines, such as the social sciences. Theological ethicists should not view theology as queen of the sciences but instead critically appropriate the findings of the social sciences and also work to offer it healthier, theologically-informed concepts.
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The Value of Nurses’ Codes: European nurses’ viewsNurses are responsible for the well-being and quality of life of many people, and therefore must meet high standards of technical and ethical competence. The most common form of ethical guidance is a code of ethics/professional practice; however, little research on how codes are viewed or used in practice has been undertaken. This study, carried out in six European countries, explored nurses’ opinions of the content and function of codes and their use in nursing practice. A total of 49 focus groups involving 311 nurses were held. Purposive sampling ensured a mix of participants from a range of specialisms. Qualitative analysis enabled emerging themes to be identified on both national and comparative bases. Most participants had a poor understanding of their codes. They were unfamiliar with the content and believed they have little practical value because of extensive barriers to their effective use. In many countries nursing codes appear to be ‘paper tigers’ with little or no impact; changes are needed in the way they are developed and written, introduced in nurse education, and reinforced/implemented in clinical practice.
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Controversias sobre la revisión ética de la investigación en ciencias humanas y sociales por el Sistema CEP/ Conep [Controversies on the ethical review of research in the Humanities and Social Sciences by System CEP/Conep]"The Ethics Committee must review all researches involving human subjects conducted in Brazil, which has caused controversies about the ethical review of research in the humanities and social sciences. The purpose of this article is to discuss the controversies of the ethical review of research in these areas in System CEP/ Conep. The controversies are the biocentrism, the punctual improvements in Resolution 466/2012, the emergence of a parallel system of ethical review for theses areas or the constitution of supplementary resolution in the system CEP/Conep. These controversies relate to functional limitations of the ethical committees: high demand of projects, few committees, limitations of the Brazil platform and the need for members training. The System CEP/Conep should continue as the only system of ethical review in Brazilian research; but it requires that the resolutions are continually revised in order to include the specificities of the researches in the humanities and create more committees with better training."
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La comprensión y la legibilidad del consentimiento informado en investigaciones clínicas [Comprehension and readability of the informed consent form in clinical research]"Este artículo es una revisión integradora de la literatura cuyo objetivo fue analizar la comprensión y la legibilidad de los consentimientos informados de los participantes de las investigaciones con seres humanos; y comprobar cuáles son los factores que influyen en su comprensión y legibilidad. Por lo tanto, se buscó identificar los factores asociados con el problema de la obtención del consentimiento válido. Forman parte de la muestra de esta revisión once artículos seleccionados, nacionales e internacionales, de los cuales cuatro eran en portugués (36, 36%), uno en español (9,10%) y seis en inglés (54,54%). Se concluyó que la mayoría de los estudios analizados confirma la hipótesis de que los participantes no entienden lo que leen en el consentimiento informado. Así, los factores deducidos como responsables de la dificultad para la lectura y la comprensión de los consentimientos informados fueron el nivel educativo de los participantes y el lenguaje usado en los términos."
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Scientific integrity and research in health in Brazil"Brazil is a country with an emerging and rapidly expanding body of scientific research, and is correspondingly experiencing a significant increase in investment in research and researcher training. It is important to verify the quality and reliability of the knowledge arising from such research, in terms of integrity and adherence to good scientific practices. The aim of this study was to provide an overview scientific integrity in Brazil through an analysis of studies published in scientific journals. A systematic review of the SciELO, PuBMed, LILACS/ IBECS and Web of Science electronic databases was performed, using keywords to select the relevant studies. Following application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 19 publications were selected and classified into six previously defined categories. However, discussion of scientific integrity remains incipient in Brazil. The subjects discussed were plagiarism and conflicts of interest regarding authorship. Early adherence to principles of integrity are important in the academic training of researchers and young scientists."
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Integridad científica y investigación en salud en el Brasil [Scientific integrity and research in health in Brazil]"El Brasil es un país con ciencia emergente, en rápida expansión, con aumento significativo de investimentos destinados a investigación y capacitación de investigadores. Así, es importante verificar la calidad y confiabilidad de los conocimientos producidos, considerándose la adherencia a los requisitos de integridad y buenas prácticas científicas. Se buscó el objetivo de esbozar un panorama sobre el tema de la integridad científica en el Brasil a través del análisis de reflexiones e investigaciones publicadas en revistas científicas. Se realizó una revisión sistemática en bases de datos electrónicas: SciELO, PuBMed, LILACS/IBECS, Scopus y Web of Science, utilizándose palabras-clave para encontrar los artículos. Después de la aplicación de criterios de inclusión y exclusión fueron seleccionadas 19 publicaciones, agrupadas en seis categorías previamente definidas. El debate sobre la integridad científica es aún incipiente en este país. Los temas más discutidos fueron plagio y conflictos de intereses sobre autoría. Es necesario el acercamiento precoz a ese conocimiento en el proceso de formación académica de investigadores y jóvenes cientistas. "
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Characterization of risks in search of an ethics committee in research protocols"A descriptive study in order to learn how researchers described risks and protective/preventive measures of their researches submitted to analyzes by an ethics committee in research. 175 research protocols submitted to a research ethics committee were included. As a result, only 38 (24.7%) described the risks in the forms and 36 (23.5%) in the informed consent. However, 110 (62.9%) described preventive measures in the forms and 143 (93.5%) in the informed consent. It was concluded that, although researchers have identified preventive measures, they have not described the risks to which the measures were targeted. It is possible that they find it hard to describe risks since they relate them to injuries."
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Controversies on the ethical review of research in the Humanities and Social Sciences by System CEP/Conep"The Ethics Committee must review all researches involving human subjects conducted in Brazil, which has caused controversies about the ethical review of research in the humanities and social sciences. The purpose of this article is to discuss the controversies of the ethical review of research in these areas in System CEP/ Conep. The controversies are the biocentrism, the punctual improvements in Resolution 466/2012, the emergence of a parallel system of ethical review for theses areas or the constitution of supplementary resolution in the system CEP/Conep. These controversies relate to functional limitations of the ethical committees: high demand of projects, few committees, limitations of the Brazil platform and the need for members training. The System CEP/Conep should continue as the only system of ethical review in Brazilian research; but it requires that the resolutions are continually revised in order to include the specificities of the researches in the humanities and create more committees with better training."
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Scientific research and patent law"Scientific research and patent law belong to two very different worlds, which made dificult that there are points of contact. While the underlying principles that authorize the granting of a patent (existence of a patentable invention, novelty, a inventive improve in the object or capacity in question and there industrial application) envisioned no conflicts were observed. The changes in patent law as a result of increasing market pressure has led to a transformation that disturbs the free movement of knowledge and scientific research itself; ethical issues of undoubted interest. The most significant notes of this process are described in this work as well as the most important conflicts that arose."
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Conflicts of interests in the medical and pharmacological research"The clinical medical pharmacological research corresponds to the experimental application of specific drug in human beings. Such application aims to protect them from unacceptable adverse effects and its inefficiency when comparing with other possibilities, more efficient. Partnerships between the pharmaceutical industry and external researchers establish potential conflict of interest. Literature use for this work indicates that researches performed under the sponsorship of pharmaceutical industry have a high rate of favorable results, and the conflicts of interest represent gaps which may interfere the result. There are studies that compare the efficiency of different drugs, whereas others compare their costs. All results should be published, even when negative. The present work concludes that the private sector must sponsor the science in order to improve human beings, especially to avoid diseases. However, it must keep its engagement in sponsoring the research with any influence on its methods, results and application, for a respectful understanding of the dignity of a person. "
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Characterization of research ethics committees’ members"This is a quantitative and descriptive study with the objective of describing the participants of the Research Ethics Committees (CEP) of four Bahia State universities. Carried out with 25 key-informants, the obtained data indicated that CEP participants (full members, coordinators and secretaries) are predominantly of female gender (60%), with degrees in various areas, being Biological Science the most cited one, (16%), with 30 or more years of professional training (27,3%) and with doctors degree (44%). Among those who perform the position of full members, only 60% have participated of an event/course about Research Ethics. Considering that the training of CEP members is crucial for proper development of the committee activities, the study concluded that educational activities at the studied CEP are necessary, such as continued training programs, that require greater institutional support and investment for implementation, development and consolidation."
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Ethical Aspects in Research with Adolescents"This article reports an experience related to the need for parents or guardians’ consent to include adolescents in research involving contraception and abortion. Ethically, a teenager can receive contraceptive advice without mandatory permission from their parents or guardians. Thus, they could answer, in principle, confidential health questions as a research subject. The reported experience aims to contribute to better understanding of the problems involved with research in this age group, contributing to the discussion on methodological issues and problematization of ethical regulation related to studies with adolescents."
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Medical research in humans, non-maleficence and homeopathic self-experimentation"This conceptual article aims to establish connection between medical research in humans, non-maleficence and homeopathic self-experimentation. Medical research in humans, usually performed in the other, has been permeated by expressive abusive practices in relation to participant subjects. It is in this context, therefore, that non-maleficence, the basic ethical principle limiting these violations, emerges. Nonmaleficence is an assumption that must guide the decisions on the field of medical research, representing its harmlessness or moderation. In regards to the subject who experiences it, the investigation in humans can also be conducted as self-experimentation, that is, performed in one self. Self-experimentation, which is of great value in different areas of the medical science, is called in homeopathy as homeopathic self-experimentation. Homeopathic self-experimentation has important non-maleficent characteristics, which makes it an ethical, safe, viable, reproducible alternative, consistent for the therapeutic medical research in humans."
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The free and clarified consent term in research with humans"The consolidation of the Brazilian system of ethical review of researches with humans is the outcome of Resolution 196/96 by the National Health Council, which contributed significantly to bioethics expansion in Brazil. The current paper aims to verify the use of free and clarified consent term (FCCT) in dissertations and thesis defended in Health Sciences graduate programs at the University of Brasilia during the period of August 1996 to December 2006. The outcomes show an awareness landscape in researchers’ training regarding effective application of bioethics pillars, more specifically the respect for the principle of research subjects’ autonomy."
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The free and clarified consent and research subject’s vulnerability"The Resolution CNS 196/96 of the Brazilian Health Ministry establishes conditions for research involving human subjects and it establishes subject’s protection with free and informed term of consent (FITC). The paper investigated subjects’ profile, establishing the relationship between subjects’ knowledge about the research and their social background. To safeguard confidentiality and privacy of researchers, the institutional ethics committee invited researchers to participate in the study, but only released their contact information upon their acceptance to be in the study. The population more frequently investigated includes patients, health workers, health course students and elderly both from groups of patients and from nursing homes. 75% of subjects were from lower income classes (D and E) and despite higher education of 49% of subjects, 60% never read the informed consent. It is necessary to renew the importance of informed consent as to educate volunteers, including information about their health conditions, thus allowing for better communication between subjects and researchers and further consideration of social vulnerability."
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Resolution 196/96 and the Brazilian ethical review system on research involving human beings"The objective of this paper is to analyze Resolution 196/96 from the historical aspects to its importance, repercussions and criticism. This study was elaborated through bibliographic survey of articles made available by the Virtual Health Library, by the Scientific Electronic Library (SciELO) and by Capes’ Journals Website. It was possible to perceive, in the undertaken analysis, that there are still many challenges to be overcome by the CEP/Conep system related to Resolution 196/96 enforcement and CEPs operation. It was also noticed that this resolution and the CEPs develop a fundamental role in the social control by assuring respect and protection to researches subjects."
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Research Ethics committees’ leaderships in Brazil"Currently, regulation of research involving human beings is part of public policies and social practices in countries governed by democratic regimes, and it aims at expanding citizen’s rights – specifically, in this case, research participants. Changes in scientific and technological general practices boosted research regulation, in addition to insert itself in public policies expansion movement, as well as by growth in medicine and its presence in daily health services practice."
