Infographic: What are research ethics? Guidelines, examples, and consequences of unethical research
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Why are research ethics important?
Where can I find research ethics guidelines?
What are common ethical issues in research?
What are the consequences of unethical research?
How to write a research ethics statement?
What are research ethics?
Research ethics are moral principles that researchers need to follow while conducting and reporting their research so as to not deceive or harm the participants, research community, and wider society.
Why are research ethics important?
Research ethics are important because they
- Protect human and animal subjects
- Prevent data falsification and fabrication
- Increase public trust in research
- Keep researchers accountable to funders
- Boost researchers’ credibility and reputation
Where can I find research ethics guidelines?
The EQUATOR Network (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) contains a comprehensive set of ethics and reporting guidelines for various kinds of studies. The World Health Organization also publishes a number of valuable ethics guidelines.
What are common ethical issues in research?
Common ethical issues in research, especially those that hinder publication of your research paper, include
- Lack of informed consent/Institutional Board Approval
- Data integrity issues (data fabrication or falsification)
- Image manipulation
- Inadequate measures to protect participant confidentiality and data privacy
- Misleading reporting/ “cherry picking” data that fits in with your hypothesis and discarding any findings that don’t
- Non-disclosure of conflicts of interest: e.g., a researcher receives a grant from a dairy products company but does not disclose this in their paper on how dairy consumption protects against osteoarthritis.
What are the consequences of unethical research?
If you or your research paper is found to violate ethical guidelines, the consequences could be
- Retraction of your research paper
- Failed grades/courses for students
- Suspension or expulsion from the university for students
- Suspension without pay or firing for university employees
- Damaged reputation
- Loss of funding
- Legal repercussions like lawsuits or even imprisonment
- Erosion of your institute’s/lab’s public reputation and credibility
How to write a research ethics statement?
In your research paper, you generally present ethical declarations as follows:
For a study involving human subjects:
This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All procedures were approved by the [Insert Institution] Ethics Committee (Protocol #12345). All participants gave written informed consent.
For a study using databases without actively collecting new data:
The study was considered exempt from institutional review board approval by [Committee Name, Institute] because [reason, e.g., it used data from an anonymized public dataset]
For a study using animal subjects:
“All experiments were conducted in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines and the [Name of Institution] animal care guidelines and approved by the [Committee Name] (approval no.).
Infographic
This infographic includes the most common ethical considerations that must be considered when a study involves human subjects or experimental animals. It is aimed at helping researchers develop best practices so that they can publish ethically and avoid rejection or retraction due to misconduct.
Feel free to download this infographic and refer to it when you consider starting a new study.
Top 5 ethical considerations in human and animal studies
| No. | Ethical Consideration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Obtain approval from relevant authorities | Get approval from IRB, ethics committee, or relevant body before starting the study. External funding may also require funder approval. |
| 2 | Follow guidelines/checklists | Use ARRIVE checklist for animal studies and Declaration of Helsinki standards for human studies. |
| 3 | Register your clinical trials | Register trials in public databases (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, ISCTN, WHO ICTRP) before enrolling participants, as per WHO and Helsinki guidelines. |
| 4 | Get prior informed consent | Obtain written consent from all participants at the beginning. Journals may reject studies without proof of consent. |
| 5 | Include all details during submission | Submit approval statements, consent evidence, and trial registration number with your manuscript. |
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References
- Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles For Medical Research Involving Human Subjects
- ARRIVE guidelines – Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments
- WHO, Statement on Public Disclosure of Clinical Trial Results
Top 5 ethical considerations when you conduct research_0.pdf
