Why is ethical approval important in research

Researchers have an obligation to conduct their research with integrity and transparency. Research ethics committees will expect you to declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest that affect your research and to be honest and transparent throughout the ethical approval process and the research process.

Any plans to withhold information from research participants should be explained and justified in your application for ethical approval. Applicants for ethical approval should consider the core principles above and address any that apply to their work as part of their application.

Failure to address the aspects above may lead to delays to your application for ethical approval. In particular, researchers should ensure that their applications address both the risks posed by their research and the potential benefits offered. Research ethics committees will normally look for the benefits of your research to outweigh the risk of harm and will assess your application to ensure that this is the case. It is therefore important that you address both in a manner appropriate to your research.

Search site. International students Continuing education Executive and professional education Courses in education. Research at Cambridge. Home Research Ethics Ethics application guidance. Applying for ethical approval: Basic principles. Participants are a valuable part of the research process and not merely a means of accessing data. Ethical review provides protection for participants, and also helps to protect the researcher.

By obtaining ethical approval the researcher is demonstrating that they have adhered to the accepted ethical standards of a genuine research study. Participants have the right to know who has access to their data and what is being done with it. There is likely to be a standard form to complete for ethical approval, which will cover who will be involved, how you will recruit your participants, and what steps you will take to ensure that they have provided informed consent.

There is an example form on our page Writing a Research Proposal , which also contains more detail about how to go about preparing a proposal.

If a research proposal raises ethical issues, the committee will ask the researcher to look again at the issue, and consider whether they could do it differently. For example , if you are proposing to carry out a study on a particular disease, and you want to ask all your participants whether they are married and have any children, the committee may want to know why this is relevant.

It may be relevant for example, if you think the disease may be reduced by living in a family , in which case, you will need to justify this. The committee may also suggest alternative methods that they think are more suitable for the target group, or additional precautions that you should take.

You cannot start your research until you have been granted ethical approval, which will be granted formally, together with an approval number. When you publish your research, whether as a thesis or in one or more journal articles, you will need to provide details of the ethical approval, including this number.

If you are a student, your supervisor should be happy to help and advise you. If necessary, they will be able to advise you about who else to ask. As a researcher, you should consult more senior colleagues around, either at your own institution or others, who should be happy to help you.

Continue to: Designing Research Writing a Methodology. Search SkillsYouNeed:. We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time. The Importance of Research Ethics Research ethics are important for a number of reasons. They promote the aims of research, such as expanding knowledge. They support the values required for collaborative work, such as mutual respect and fairness. This is essential because scientific research depends on collaboration between researchers and groups.

They mean that researchers can be held accountable for their actions. Many researchers are supported by public money, and regulations on conflicts of interest, misconduct, and research involving humans or animals are necessary to ensure that money is spent appropriately.

They ensure that the public can trust research. For people to support and fund research, they have to be confident in it. They support important social and moral values, such as the principle of doing no harm to others.