Prof. Elaine Sharplin

Elaine has extensive experience in human research ethics, research integrity, research governance and professional ethics in education.

Her work in an international university in Central Asia enabled her to develop expertise in the field of research ethics. During this time, she had oversight of the university human ethics committee, conducted a research ethics project across three Central Asian countries, developed research ethics and academic integrity education resources and provided consultancy and seminars to an extensive network of universities.

As the chair of the university institutional research ethics committee, she strongly influenced a change in the institutional culture by adopting educative approaches to ethics approval, working with faculty and students to move beyond compliance mentalities to the exploration of the impact of research on participants. She supported glocalised approaches, acknowledging and valuing the cultural contexts of diverse research sites.

She previously worked at four Australian universities in Western Australia and Queensland, in the field of Teacher Education. Her research and teaching included a focus on professionalism and professional ethics. Her research projects included rural and remote education, involving work in indigenous Australian communities and international partnerships in Nepal, Peru and Papua New Guinea. These experiences developed a commitment to relational and empowering ethical approaches in research and community development projects.

Elaine was responsible for the conception and development of a trilingual online research ethics education resource to support the development of research ethics in the social sciences in Central Asia.

Elaine has developed research ethics and integrity training programs and resource materials for universities in Central Asia. She has provided consultancy to Ministerial Taskforces in Kazakhstan and UNESCO Uzbekistan.

She has been an Expert Advisor on a World Bank project with a Finnish University, and provided review of program documents for 10 universities in Kazakhstan.

• Human research ethics
• Research ethics training for researchers
• Research integrity
• Research ethics advice to researchers in education, social sciences, humanities and some areas of applied science
• Research governance

Gulzhanat, G., Tabaeva, E., Bekova, M., Ramazanova, M., Sadykova, A., & Sharplin, E. (Accepted). Glocalising educational research ethics: Navigating a pluriversal space for ethics education in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Handbook of Research Ethics in Education: Collaborative Approaches in and for Education. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sharplin, E.D., Wake, D. & Sharplin, V. E. (2025). Becoming a teaching professional: Scoping the ethical and legal domains. In J. Allen & S. White (Eds.), Teaching in a New Era. Cambridge Press (3rd ed.) pp. (pp.436-473). DOI:10.1017/9781009528375.015

Sharplin, E.D., Gafu, G., Berekeyeva, A., Tabaeva, A. & Abildina, R., (2025). Research ethics education for the social sciences in Central Asian contexts. Journal of Eurasian Studies, 16 (2), pp. 275–289. . https://doi.org/10.1177/18793665251357324

Gafu, G., Sharplin, E.D., & Israel, M. (2025). Development, adoption or adaption? Researchers’ attitudes to forging social research ethics policy in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Journal of Academic Ethics, 23, pp. 649–670, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-024-09560-5  

Sagitova, R., Sharplin, E., Ramazanova, M., Berekeyeva, A., & Parmenter, L. (2024). Understanding human participant research ethics: The perspectives of social scientists in Central Asia. International Journal of Educational Research, 124, 102303, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102303

Collins, N., & Sharplin, E.D. (2024) Sources of authority influencing the development of research ethics policy in Muslim majority secular jurisdictions: Compatibility, contradiction and compromise. Contemporary Islam, https://doi-org.ezproxy.nu.edu.kz/10.1007/s11562-024-00560-1DOI:10.1007/s11562-024-00560-1

Berekeyeva, A., Sharplin, E., Courtney M., & Sagitova, R. (2023). Ethical human participant research in Central Asia: A quantitative analysis of attitudes and practices among social science researchers based in the region. Research Ethics. https://doi-org.ezproxy.nu.edu.kz/10.1177/17470161231202232

Collins, N., Sharplin, E., & Burkhanov, A. (2023). Challenges for political science research ethics in autocracies: A Case Study of Central Asia. Political Studies Review,  https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299231153074.

Sharplin, E.D., Karabassova, L., & Bekova, M. (2023). Educational practitioners’ conceptualizations of educational research in Kazakhstan. Asia-Pacific Education Review, 1, p. 213-227, 10.1007/s12564-023-09900-x [

Zhakupova, A., Sharplin, E.D., Ismaniglova, A., Rakisheva, G., & Ramazanova, M. Zh (2021). The origins and development of research ethics in Kazakhstan: Is the moral philosophy of nomads connected with international research ethics? Bulletin of the Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University. №2 (80), 32-45. https://doi.org/10.26577/jpcp.2022.v80.i2.04

Ibrasheva, O.H., Rakisheva, A.K., Sharplin, E.D., & Ramazanova, M. Zh.  (2021. ИНТЕРНАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИЯ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ В КАЗАХСТАНЕ: КЕЙС РАЗВИТИЯ ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКОЙ ЭТИКИ В СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ НАУКАХ (in Russian). The impact of internationalization on research in higher education in Kazakhstan. KazNU Bulletin, 69(4), 16-27.

Sharplin, E.D. (2023). Developing Institutional Research Capacity. In A. Sagintayeva & D. Bilyalov, University Administrator’s Handbook, Chapter 9, pp. 113-128. Available from: Kaz language version: https://nur.nu.edu.kz/bitstreams/f5f15141-3711-4eb9-82dc-71741a56f5d0/download Rus language version: https://nur.nu.edu.kz/bitstreams/a97960ce-2653-4b91-90d1-561ca1f3777e/download 

Sharplin, E.D. (2023). Establishing Research Infrastructures and Cultures for Ethical Contemporary Research Practices. In A. Sagintayeva & D. Bilyalov, University Administrator’s Handbook. Chapter 8, pp. 104-112. Available from: Kaz language version: https://nur.nu.edu.kz/bitstreams/f5f15141-3711-4eb9-82dc-71741a56f5d0/download Rus language version: https://nur.nu.edu.kz/bitstreams/a97960ce-2653-4b91-90d1-561ca1f3777e/download