Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research

Research ethics is a framework of principles and guidelines designed to ensure that scientific inquiry protects participants’ rights and welfare while upholding integrity. Core principles includes respect for persons, beneficence, and justice which govern all research stages. Respect for persons re...

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Main Authors: Tanvir C Turin, Mohammad Raihan, Meriem Aroua, Nashit Chowdhury
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University 2025-05-01
Series:Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/BSMMUJ/article/view/79016
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author Tanvir C Turin
Mohammad Raihan
Meriem Aroua
Nashit Chowdhury
author_facet Tanvir C Turin
Mohammad Raihan
Meriem Aroua
Nashit Chowdhury
author_sort Tanvir C Turin
collection DOAJ
description Research ethics is a framework of principles and guidelines designed to ensure that scientific inquiry protects participants’ rights and welfare while upholding integrity. Core principles includes respect for persons, beneficence, and justice which govern all research stages. Respect for persons requires informed consent, confidentiality, and additional safeguards for individuals with diminished autonomy. Beneficence involves maximizing benefits and minimizing harm. Justice demands equitable distribution of both research burdens and benefits. Despite these safeguards, exploitative dynamics persist when power imbalances enable researchers to pursue agendas at the expense of marginalized communities. Such dynamics manifest as tokenistic participation, extractive “helicopter” research, lack of reciprocity, disregard for local context, and unaddressed harms, all of which erode trust and compromise research validity. Mitigating these issues for ensuring ethical research requires proactive strategies at both the investigator and institutional levels. Researchers should co-design studies with community partners, implement participant-centered informed consent, ensure fair recruitment, prioritize participant welfare, establish benefit-sharing agreements, and maintain transparency and accountability. Academic institutions must bolster ethics infrastructures — streamlining review processes, providing ongoing ethics training, facilitating genuine community engagement, and fostering a culture that rewards ethical conduct. By embedding these measures into research design and oversight, the research community can prevent exploitation, honour participants’ dignity, and advance knowledge in an equitable manner. Upholding rigorous ethical standards not only safeguards scientific credibility but also builds public trust and contributes to a more just and inclusive society. 
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spelling doaj-art-5b12f1dc32c8472497db3dccff4d651e2025-08-20T01:51:01ZengBangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical UniversityBangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal2074-29082224-77502025-05-0118210.3329/bsmmuj.v18i2.79016Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical researchTanvir C Turin0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7499-5050Mohammad Raihan1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9945-1535Meriem Aroua2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7170-9031Nashit Chowdhury3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1067-4450Department of Family Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada Department of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Science, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada Research ethics is a framework of principles and guidelines designed to ensure that scientific inquiry protects participants’ rights and welfare while upholding integrity. Core principles includes respect for persons, beneficence, and justice which govern all research stages. Respect for persons requires informed consent, confidentiality, and additional safeguards for individuals with diminished autonomy. Beneficence involves maximizing benefits and minimizing harm. Justice demands equitable distribution of both research burdens and benefits. Despite these safeguards, exploitative dynamics persist when power imbalances enable researchers to pursue agendas at the expense of marginalized communities. Such dynamics manifest as tokenistic participation, extractive “helicopter” research, lack of reciprocity, disregard for local context, and unaddressed harms, all of which erode trust and compromise research validity. Mitigating these issues for ensuring ethical research requires proactive strategies at both the investigator and institutional levels. Researchers should co-design studies with community partners, implement participant-centered informed consent, ensure fair recruitment, prioritize participant welfare, establish benefit-sharing agreements, and maintain transparency and accountability. Academic institutions must bolster ethics infrastructures — streamlining review processes, providing ongoing ethics training, facilitating genuine community engagement, and fostering a culture that rewards ethical conduct. By embedding these measures into research design and oversight, the research community can prevent exploitation, honour participants’ dignity, and advance knowledge in an equitable manner. Upholding rigorous ethical standards not only safeguards scientific credibility but also builds public trust and contributes to a more just and inclusive society.  https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/BSMMUJ/article/view/79016research ethicsexplorative dynamics
spellingShingle Tanvir C Turin
Mohammad Raihan
Meriem Aroua
Nashit Chowdhury
Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal
research ethics
explorative dynamics
title Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
title_full Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
title_fullStr Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
title_full_unstemmed Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
title_short Research ethics: Overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
title_sort research ethics overcoming the exploitative dynamic through ethical research
topic research ethics
explorative dynamics
url https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/BSMMUJ/article/view/79016
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