Research ethics and governance
Make participation and oversight defensible
Research ethics concerns justified treatment of participants, communities and others affected by enquiry. Governance establishes responsibilities, approvals and oversight. Consent, confidentiality, foreseeable harm and fair participation require ongoing attention. For psychology, the BPS code addresses deception, dependent relationships and debriefing; relevant institutional and sector requirements must also be identified before recruitment or intervention.
Use before any research involving people or potentially identifiable information, and revisit when methods, risks or participants change. Early review is especially important for deception, unequal relationships or vulnerable groups.
Strengths
- Improves consent, accountability and participant protection
- Makes responsibilities and decisions visible throughout the project
Limitations
- Approval can be mistaken for completion of ethical judgement
- Formal procedures may miss relationship-based or evolving harms
Know the boundary
Institutional approval does not make every subsequent decision ethical, and online public availability does not remove ethical responsibilities.