Research ethics is concerned with the moral issues that arise during or as a result of research activities, as well as the conduct of individual researchers, and the implications for research communities. Historically, scandals such as Nazi human experimentation and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment led to the realisation that clear measures are needed for the ethical governance of research to ensure that people, animals and environments are not unduly harmed by scientific inquiry. The management of research ethics is inconsistent across countries and there is no universally accepted approach to how it should be addressed. Research ethics committees have emerged in universities as one governance mechanism to ensure research is conducted responsibly as ethical issues may arise in the design and implementation of research involving human experimentation or animal experimentation – such as interviews, field work or experiments. There may also be consequences for the environment, for society or for future generations that need to be considered. Research ethics is commonly distinguished from matters of research integrity that includes issues such as scientific misconduct (e.g. fraud, fabrication of data or plagiarism). Text adapted from Wikipedia.
The resources below have been curated by the E-International Relations team to give a broad overview and introduction to research ethics in International Relations, and beyond. Find more methods resources on our methods homepage.
Methods space – website
Bringing the personal (back) in: Why emotions are vital to research – article
Ethics in field experimentation – article
