Ethical research in the German social sciences: Exploring the significance and challenges of institutionalized research ethics practices

Crawford, Andrew; Fichtner, Laura; Guntrum, Laura Gianna; Jänsch, Stephanie; Krösche, Niklas; Soulier, Eloïse; Süß, Clara-Auguste

doi:10.1177/17470161241270787

Ethical research in the German social sciences: Exploring the significance and challenges of institutionalized research ethics practices

Publication date

2024-08-13

Document type

Forschungsartikel

Author

Crawford, Andrew

Fichtner, Laura

Guntrum, Laura Gianna

Jänsch, Stephanie

Krösche, Niklas

Soulier, Eloïse

Süß, Clara-Auguste

Organisational unit

Politikwissenschaft, insb. Internationale Sicherheitspolitik und Konfliktforschung

DOI

10.1177/17470161241270787

URI

https://openhsu.ub.hsu-hh.de/handle/10.24405/22873

Publisher

Sage

Series or journal

Research Ethics

ISSN

1747-0161

Periodical volume

21

Periodical issue

3

First page

448

Last page

479

Part of the university bibliography

✅

Language

English

Abstract

This article explores two key facets of institutionalized ethical review processes in Germany: (1) their importance in shaping ethical research and (2) their associated challenges, with a specific focus on their implications within the social sciences. Ethical considerations play a pivotal role in (social science) research, safeguarding, amongst others, the rights and well-being of participants and ensuring research integrity. Despite notable progress in promoting research ethics, German research institutions still need to significantly improve their ethics review processes. To address these challenges, this article emphasizes the need for expanding the current management of research ethics and implementing what we call “Institutionalized Research Ethics Practices’’ (IREPs), which include but go beyond the scope of common Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). Drawing on two workshops with researchers and IRB members, and a systematic review of existing IRBs in the German social sciences, we propose concrete recommendations for developing and enhancing IREPs, including a conducive environment, accessibility, fairness, and fostering expertise (CAFE). These enhancements aim to strengthen Germany’s research ethics infrastructure and promote responsible and ethical research practices in the social sciences.

Description

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Version

Published version

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