The Challenge of Harmonising Research Ethics Standards

At universities in Canada, as in many other countries, professors must have their research plan approved by the research ethics board or REB at their institution before they can launch their study. This process ensures that participants are not exposed to physical or psychological harm. 

Interviews, surveys, focus groups or medical interventions, all methods that involve human participants, must receive REB approval, and for good reason. We have distanced ourselves from the days of recruiting vulnerable members of society and testing new discoveries on them. 

While the importance of conducting ethical research is unquestioned, some social scientists in the Canadian context have questioned the extensive power of REBs and whether their role as gatekeepers needs some limits. Whether ethics reviews are overly cumbersome remains a debate, but what is clear is that a large, decentralised country like Canada needs national-level collaboration to harmonise ethics reviews across institutions.

More information: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180502093001272