Research Ethics: a Brief History

I'm so, so sorry about this.

Giving appropriate and thorough consideration to the ethical implications of your research is now an essential part of the process of developing projects and applying for grants.

However, how did we get here? How did we arrive at this comprehensive framework of scrutiny? The Research Ethics and Governance Officer at Kent, Nicole Palmer, has been working in the area for almost a decade now, and offered up this broad overview of key points in the progress to the present. It's not comprehensive, but does provide an indication of both the historic moments since the war that triggered action, and the legislation, policy and guidelines that have resulted.

For more detail of a range of professional ethics codes, have a look at this list compiled by the Research Ethics Handbook. For staff at the University of Kent who wish to talk through their research and the issues involved, drop Nicole a line.

Research Ethics Committees: Help or Hindrance?

UCL are holding a two day conference examining the work of university research ethics committees. It will take place on 12 and 13 November 2009.
While ethics committees are now a familiar feature of research institutions especially within the NHS, academic work on their role, remit and function is still in its infancy. The theme for the conference is how effective ethics committees are in reducing risks to subjects of research without over-burdening researchers with bureaucracy.
More details available here.