Psychology, ethics, and research ethics boards

ABSTRACT

Research Ethics Boards (REBs) at universities are chaired and staffed by researchers who serve to enforce codes of ethics by scrutinizing research proposals. Yet there is widespread dissatisfaction with the REB approval process. This article examines the sources of that dissatisfaction, the place for codes of ethics in the conducting of research, the evidence for risk to research participants as the basis for those codes, and the effectiveness of REBs in protecting research participants. We offer suggestions for how REB chairs, members, and researchers can improve the REB approval process so that it is fair and responsive.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethics
• research ethics boards
• institutional review boards

Acknowledgements

Holly Funk, Richard Kleer, and Christopher Oriet are thanked for providing helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).