What do HREC members think and do when deciding about children’s participation in social research? Results from the MESSI survey
Dr Gary Allen
November 30, 2021
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Research Ethics Monthly
ISSN 2206-2483
Why university research ethics committees are vital
March 13, 2021
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In this post Daniel Sokol writes about a troubling research integrity/human research ethics case that relates to Poland, the UK and Australia.
Daniel SokolÂ
When I sat on the Ministry of Defence’s Research Ethics Committee, some research projects were potentially dangerous. The risks of testing a new piece of military diving equipment, for example, are obvious. If it malfunctions, the volunteer could drown or suffer brain damage. The risks of historical research can be more subtle but they are nonetheless real, as shown by a recent case involving the University of Warwick.
Dr Anna Hájková, an associate professor of modern continental European history, researches the queer history of the Holocaust. She claimed that a Jewish prisoner may have engaged in a lesbian sexual relationship with a Nazi guard in Hamburg in 1944.
After the war, the prisoner worked as an actress and emigrated from…
Ethics CoPs not Ethics Police: Building communities of practice in ethics and integrity
March 10, 2021
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In this post Gary Allen and Mark Israel discuss seeding and supporting virtual and physical Communities of Practice and their value over enforcement and policing.
Gary Allen and Mark Israel
Research ethics professionals have grown wary of researchers who talk disparagingly about the work of research ethics reviewers as the ‘ethics police’ (Klitzman, 2015; Makhoul et al., 2014). So, there is more than a little irony in our suggestion for responding constructively to such an adversarial stance (Allen & Israel, 2018) – the Community of Practice (CoP).
A CoP is characterised by a shared area of knowledge and set of practices within which experiences and insights can be shared and learning can be fostered (Wenger et al., 2002). Done well, a CoP can result in continual improvement across and…
The Tower of Babel and Human Research Ethics
February 23, 2021
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Gary Allen and Mark Israel reflect on constructive approaches to languages in human research and for research ethics committees.
Gary Allen and Mark Israel
Much human research is conducted in languages that are not the same as that used by the research ethics review body or the chief investigators. This can manifest in a number of ways including:
Recruitment and consent materials;
Data collection tools (surveys, interview instruments and observation matrices), and
Collected data.
return of results to participants
There is literature on the ethics of interpreting and translation (Drugan, 2017) as well as on the ethics of research in those fields (Tiselius, 2019). However, for our purposes, we want to focus on the first two situations…
If you build it, they will come- 2020 Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) Training Conference (online) 18-20 Nov
November 29, 2020
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Approximately 2.5 months from inception to execution, a veritable cornucopia of Australia’s thought leaders on topics such as consent, voluntary
Going video: A chance to change review practice?
November 10, 2020
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In this post, Gary asks when it comes to research ethics review, whether something useful might come from social distancing
A new approach to the AHRECS site
October 26, 2020
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In response to community feedback, from 1 November 2020, only papers, books and genuine resources will be posted to the AHRECS Resource Library; news and announcements will be posted to the feeds page. Â Searches of the site can include searches of the feed. Links to Research Ethics Monthly editions will also be posted to the feeds page. Â Please bear with us as we move all existing news items over to the feed. Eventually, this approach will make it easier to distinguish between research outputs and news items about human research ethics and research integrity.
A poor call and two missed opportunities, but otherwise not a bad proposed revision to NS s5
October 20, 2020
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In this post, Gary, Mark and Kim refect on the draft update to Section 5 of the Australia’s National Statement.
“In recent years in Australia, we have seen some painful cases where research ethics review delegated to a non-HREC review body has failed to guard against projects that proved to be embarrassing for their host institution (see, for example, the ‘Racist bus driver’ and ‘Laughing at the disabled’ projects)….”
Reframing Indigenous consultation: engagement and risk management
September 16, 2020
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Lindsey Te Ata o Tu MacDonald and commentary by Mandy Downing As a member and then chair of both a
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Featured posts
Building beneficial relationships when conducting research with migrant communities
July 25, 2017
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In my experience, projects that involve working with migrant groups and communities reveal a
A call for a national inquiry into the burden of research ethics and governance
May 22, 2019
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Adrian Barnett, Queensland University of Technology . Do we need a national inquiry into
It’s not too late to register for today’s free webinar about the 2018 update to the National Statement
November 21, 2018
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Details about the event below. While we hope to see you there in a
Is human research ethics review a form of out of date, inefficient and ineffective regulation?
September 22, 2015
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As I reached page 35 of the latest NEAF application for the next HREC