Navigating research ethics in the absence of an ethics review board: The importance of space for sharing

Ethics review committees have become a common institution in English-speaking research communities, and are now increasingly being adopted in a variety of research environments. In light of existing debates on the aptness of ethics review boards for assessing research work in the social sciences, th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cécile Giraud, Giuseppe Davide Cioffo, Maïté Kervyn de Lettenhove, Carlos Ramirez Chaves
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-01-01
Series:Research Ethics Review
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1747016117750081
Description
Summary:Ethics review committees have become a common institution in English-speaking research communities, and are now increasingly being adopted in a variety of research environments. In light of existing debates on the aptness of ethics review boards for assessing research work in the social sciences, this article investigates the ways in which researchers navigate issues of research ethics in the absence of a formal review procedure or of an ethics review board. Through the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, the article questions the overall utility of ethics review boards. Highlighting the importance of space for sharing, the authors argue for the development of a new type of structure that takes into account researchers’ ‘ethos of responsibility’ as an adequate ethical compass for research in the social sciences.
ISSN:1747-0161
2047-6094