Research ethics

Ethical leadership

Since the publication of the first version of the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964, the responsibility for overseeing ethics in research has been assigned to research ethics committees (RECs). They initially focused on the autonomy of participants, the protection of privacy and confidentiality, and informed consent.

However, research ethics is now a rapidly evolving field that must listen to the voices of all researchers, individual participants, and research communities. Clinical, epidemiological, and diagnostic studies, secondary analyses of health data and biosamples, behavioral studies, or any other research involving human participants should yield social value, be scientifically justified, and adhere to ethical standards. For RECs overseeing global health research, it is also critical to consider and mitigate potential power imbalances in global health.

Recent guidelines emphasise concepts and principles such as fair research partnerships, benefit sharing, community engagement, protection of data collectors in the field, fair policies and practices for sharing research data and BioSamples, and fair dissemination practices. Increasing attention is being given to the ethical challenges of research conducted during outbreaks and other public health emergencies. These guidelines include, among others:

Furthermore, it is increasingly recognised that research institutions and individual researchers are responsible for integrating ethical standards and integrity in their institutional policies, as well as their personal values and behaviours.