Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity – serie

Over the past decade there has been growing national and international concern about the impact of systems for the management of research ethics in the social sciences. In particular these ‘procedural bureaucracies’ are seen as inappropriate to the ethical governance of social scientific research as they were designed around the challenges presented by biomedical research.This volume addresses and debates these concerns and identifies areas of ‘common ground’, core ethics principles and areas of particular concern in research ethics across the social sciences.This volume draws on proceedings and papers delivered at a Symposia series under the auspices of the UK Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS). This project aimed to advance the understanding and application of core ethics values to all aspects of social science research from inception and review through research design, data acquisition, analysis and management to dissemination and application, in collaboration with social science learned societies, research funders, higher education establishments, researchers and participants in research.

This volume focuses on the ethics of internet and social networking research exploring the challenges faced by researchers making use of social media and big data in their research. The internet, the world wide web and social media – indeed all forms of online communications – are attractive fields of research across a range of disciplines. They offer opportunities for methodological initiatives and innovations in research and easily accessed, massive amounts of primary and secondary data sources. This collection examines the new challenges posed by data generated online, explores how researchers are addressing those ethical challenges, and provides rich case studies of ethical decision making in the digital age.

This collectionfocuses on virtue theory and the ethics of social science research. A moralphilosophy that has been relatively neglected in the domain of research ethics,virtue ethics has much to offer those who wish to go beyond the difficultiesgenerated by the biomedical model of research ethics and positively engage withthe ethics of social scientific research. As the chapters contained in thisvolume show, the perspective provided by virtue ethics also exhibits a certainaffinity with the emerging discourse regarding research integrity. Contributorsdevelop various facets of virtue ethics in order to illuminate a range ofissues in the practice and governance of social science, including integrity,the ethics of ethical review, ethics education, and the notion of phrónēsis(wisdom).

Life and health sciences and biomedical studies havedeveloped rapidly over the last few decades raising previously unanticipatedethical concerns and questions. New and emerging technologies require novelapproaches, protocols and raised awareness to ensure adequate levels ofbiosecurity and biosafety as well as the implementation of special measures toprevent their potential misuse or dual use. This volume brings together an international collection ofprominent ethics experts in health and life sciences, with the aim of providingclear and comprehensive guidelines for the establishment of efficient ethicalstrategies related to current and emerging biotechnologies and health research. Important current topics in research ethics includingCRISPR-Cas9 technologies, gene editing, ‘big data’ in healthcare and lifesciences, nutrition in medicine among other topics have found their place inthis volume. In addition, the volume discusses the prospects for theimplementation of an international unification of ethical standards in lifesciences.

There are currently over 1.3 billion people globally who experience exclusion and inequality rooted in persistent and deep ableism. Quality research with and about disabled people is vital to changing this situation. Such research presents ethical challenges and complexities which have not been given the attention they deserve if we are to advance disability rights as promised by the UNCRPD and other equality and human rights commitments. Considering important aspects of general ethical principles, including respect, consent, privacy and confidentiality, this volume of Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity fills that gap. It does so while also recognising the broad scope, diversity and significant size of the disabled population. Experienced researchers from the field examine processes of disablement and the specificities which arise when researching the lives of people with physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments. Authors also incorporate social factors such as gender, ethnicity and age and how they interact with disability. Building from the context set by the UNCRPD and other ethical guidance, chapters explore topics such as ensuring quality in data, the importance of defining terms, ethical inclusion, use and misuse of the term vulnerability, the intersection of race and ethnicity, the role of ethics committees and other approval processes and maximising research impact.

Given the extreme variety of research issues under investigation today and the multi-million-dollar industry surrounding research, it becomes extremely important that we ensure that research involving Indigenous peoples is ethically as well as methodologically relevant, according to the needs and desires of Indigenous peoples themselves. This distinctive volume presents Indigenous research as strong and self-determined with theories, ethics and methodologies arising from within unique cultural contexts. Yet the volume makes clear that challenges remain, such as working in mainstream institutions that may not regard the work of Indigenous researchers as legitimate ‘science’. In addition, it explores a twenty-first-century challenge for Indigenous people researching with their own people, namely the ethical questions that must be addressed when dealing with Indigenous organisations and tribal corporations that have fought for – and won – power and money. The volume also analyses Indigenous/non-Indigenous research partnerships, outlining how they developed respectful and reciprocal relationships of benefit for all, and argues that these kinds of best practice research guidelines are of value to all research communities.

Ethics and Integrity in Visual Research Methods aims to unpack the multiple considerations for ethics and integrity that accompany research methods involving visual data generation and analysis. This volume focuses on the media of photography and film. Contributing authors cover a variety of topics, including: consent and dignity when working with vulnerable and marginalized populations; the limitations of participatory methods within a context of inequity and postcolonialism; the challenges of anonymising visual data; and the risks of sharing visual data online. The authors share their experiences of working with visual methods across a range of contexts, making recommendations for best practice. This volume is intended to be practical, and the key messages aim to be concrete and applicable for anyone embarking on visual methods research.

This volume focuses on the ethics of internet and social networking research exploring the challenges faced by researchers making use of social media and big data in their research. The internet, the world wide web and social media – indeed all forms of online communications – are attractive fields of research across a range of disciplines. They offer opportunities for methodological initiatives and innovations in research and easily accessed, massive amounts of primary and secondary data sources. This collection examines the new challenges posed by data generated online, explores how researchers are addressing those ethical challenges, and provides rich case studies of ethical decision making in the digital age.

The rapid expansion of research with children and young people has compelled researchers to engage carefully and critically with the ethical aspects of their research, including considering the best ways to ensure children’s meaningful participation in research in ethically sensitive ways.This international and multi-disciplinary edited collection unpacks some of the ethical complexities of conducting research with children and young people. The chapters in the volume offer an applied perspective to navigating contemporary and complicated ethical issues that can arise in the field of childhood and youth-centred research. The volume moves beyond a focus on standard, procedural research ethics processes and principles to expose some of the situated ethical moments that researchers grapple with in everyday research practice.Offering a guide for researchers around the importance of developing ethical reflexivity, and the obstacles to achieving it, this volume raises new debates around research ethics while sustaining pragmatic guidance for future research developments that can support children and young people’s participation in research.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.The EU-funded PRO-RES Project aimed to produce a guidance framework that helps to deliver Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). PRO-RES is a Horizon 2020 project coordinated by the European Science Foundation (ESF), involving 14 different partners across Europe. As one of a series of open access products of the Project, Ethical Issues in Covert, Security and Surveillance Research will be placed in the hands of policymakers and their advisors to offer practical and efficient ways to respond to the issues addressed.Understanding that the problem of covert research and surveillance research for security purposes have proven highly challenging for all research ethics appraisal services, the chapters here are valuable resources for expert reviewers, helping further the discussion of these complex ethical issues, and raising the standards applied to the process. Delivering an applied approach, and influencing where it counts, this volume showcases that it is only when the integrity of research is carefully pursued can users of the evidence produced be assured of its value and its ethical credentials.

Featuring contributions from the US, Europe and the UK, this edited collection addresses issues relating to research ethics and integrity when undertaking social research with older people and service users.Setting out practical insights and guidance, as well as addressing theoretical and philosophical aspects, this volume includes contributions from ‘researchers’, ’the researched’ and ‘those in between’ on topics including dementia, family carers, safeguarding and mental health with the common goal of producing high quality 'user' relevant research.Equipping readers with an understanding of how to move forward not only as researchers but also as consumers of research and citizens, Ethics and Integrity in Research with Older People and Service Users is a timely and insightful contribution to the Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity series.

This book contains three Open Access chapters.Reframing Qualitative Research Ethics explores contemporary challenges in qualitative research ethics and generates proposals for reforming ethics review based on researchers’ experience on the ground to support innovative qualitative research in the future.Following an introduction informed by the historical trajectory of research ethics, this volume explores some of the ethical concerns that researchers have encountered during fieldwork for their research, considers how both they and their ethics committees framed ethical issues, describes how these were managed, and reflects on what we can learn from their experiences. Granular case-studies with a focus on innovative methodologies are offered alongside reflections that go beyond the well-rehearsed binaries of oppositional debates about research ethics review. Researchers with extensive experience of research ethics review make some broader proposals for change. These include a proposal for discipline-based research ethics review, a call to broaden out ethical issues to encompass wider frameworks of research integrity, and an agenda for organisations to better support ethics and integrity in qualitative research.A timely return to the nuances of researchers’ experience on the ground featuring contributors who are uniquely well-placed to bridge the divide that is commonly seen between researchers and the views of research ethics committees, this is a pathbreaking resource for a new generation of qualitative researchers and members of the research ethics community.