Research should never be carried out without due consideration to ethics.
An ethics committee’s primary obligation is to protect the rights, safety and welfare of human research subjects. Ethics committees carry out ethics reviews to scrutinise the conduct of a research study and provide an independent judgement about its ethical soundness.
Ethics review is not just a one-off process. It is indicated at all of the following junctures:
(Click on each tab for further elaboration)
Before a study is initiated
All research involving human subjects should be reviewed by the ethics committee before they can be conducted.
This is to make sure that researchers have considered all possible ethical issues and put in place sufficient measures to minimise potential harm to research subjects.
At regular time points when a study is in progress
The higher the risk level of a study, the more closely the ethics committee need to monitor its progress to ensure that it is still safe to continue.
Whenever there is a change or finding that could alter the risk-to-benefit ratio of an ongoing study
When changes are made to a research plan that was originally approved by the ethics committee, they may alter the risk level of a study. Such changes should be reviewed as and when they occur.
Any actual harm to research subjects should also be reported to the ethics committee as soon as possible. This is to ensure the immediate and future safety of all research subjects.
At the completion of a study
Review of a study’s final outcomes serves to assure the ethics committee that a study has been completed satisfactorily.
Whenever there is a concern or complaint about a study, even after its completion
Any concerns that anyone has about a study need to be reviewed thoroughly and fairly by the ethics committee.