SECTION I: Research Integrity

What is Research Integrity?
Example: The TalkTogether Approach
Section I Quiz 1 (on Qualtrics) password required
Research Misconduct
International Collaborations and Ethics Dumping
Section I Quiz 2 (on Qualtrics) password required

International Collaborations and Ethics Dumping

International research collaborations, on the one hand, can lead to a meaningful exchange of knowledge and skills between partners. On the other hand, partnerships between institutions in the so-called Global North and the Global South can also be unequal, or worse, exploitative.

Ethics dumping refers to the exporting of unethical ethics practices to low- and middle-income countries¹.

Ethics dumping occurs mainly in two areas. First, when research participants and/or resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are exploited intentionally, for instance because research can be undertaken in an LMIC that would be prohibited in a high-income country. Second, exploitation can occur due to insufficient ethics awareness on the part of the researcher, or low research governance capacity in the host nation. (p. 2)

Many famous examples come from health and biological research²; however, The Guardian provides some examples that are also relevant to education and social sciences research³, such as:

Avoiding local ethics approval
Lack of awareness about the community, e.g., not contacting community leaders before conducting a study
Insensitive behaviour, e.g., entering indigenous people’s homes and taking pictures without consent
‘Extractive’ research, e.g., not sharing benefits of the study or knowledge gained with the community being studied

The Global Code of Conduct⁴ was established to fight against ethics dumping and to promote equal partnerships between high-income and low- and middle-income countries around the world. The code of conduct has 4 main principles; namely:

1. Fairness

Collaborating with local communities on issues that are relevant to them
Involving researchers throughout the entire research process wherever possible, including in the sharing of data, intellectual property, and authorship of publications
Fair compensation for local staff and contributors, e.g., translators, interpreters, and local coordinators

2. Respect

Being sensitive to local cultural settings and practices
Getting local community agreement and working with existing community structures
Seeking approval from local research ethics committees and taking advice from these committees, even when ethics approval from a high-income setting has already been received

3. Care

Procedures for getting consent and raising questions and complaints must be accessible, easy to understand, and agreed upon with the local communities
No double standard: If research would be restricted or prohibited in a high-income country, then this should not be done in a low- and middle-income country either
Potential risks to the participants (e.g., discrimination due to sensitive information shared) and researchers (e.g., security), or potential burdens on local resources (e.g., time of local staff), should be discussed with local partners

4. Honesty

Clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations for conduct must be discussed across all parties involved in the research
Capacity-building for local researchers should be part of the project plan
Researchers must be clear and transparent in their communication: using plain, non-patronizing language, and without withholding any information
Researchers must not accept or support any form of corruption or bribery
Researchers must maintain high standards of data privacy even when local standards are lax

As you can see, the research community has done a lot to establish what we must expect from each other as researchers, wherever we are in the world. In the next section, we will take a closer look at how ethics is applied to different stages of the research process.

But before we proceed, let’s check what you’ve learned so far with another quiz:

TalkTogether Ethics Training