The recent increase in research in the Middle East has been associated with the establishment of research ethics committees (RECs). Our aim was to obtain perspectives of RECs regarding the challenges that impede their effective functioning. We conducted in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. We transcribed and analyzed the interviews to uncover major themes and subthemes. We identified the following themes: Membership composition; Revised training needs of members; Revised availability of human and capital resources; Revised role of the national government; Revised concerns with the informed consent process; Revised government scrutiny of research; Revised investigator-related issues; Revised and concerns with transfer of biological samples to other countries. Our interview study revealed several barriers that need to be considered by appropriate stakeholders to enhance adequate functioning of RECs.
Objective. To assess the knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of dental faculty regarding research ethics and research ethics committees (RECs). Design. Through convenience sampling, we distributed a survey to academics at dental faculties at two universities in the Middle East. We used descriptive, chi-square, and logistic regression statistics to analyze the data. Results. Our response rate was 62.5%. A large majority (>90%) held positive attitudes towards RECs; however, almost half (44.0%) thought that RECs would delay research. Less than half (36.8%) had received prior training in research ethics, and the average score they achieved on the questions on research ethics was only 40.2%. Most (>90%), however, were favorable towards research ethics education. Finally, some faculty held attitudes regarding certain research ethics practices that were not optimal. Conclusions. We conclude that among the dental faculties participating in our study, there is broad-based acceptance of RECs and training in research ethics, while there are knowledge gaps in research ethics. We recommend further studies to determine the generalizability of our findings to other institutions.
Abstract Recently, training programs in research ethics have been established to enhance individual and institutional capacity in research ethics in the developing world. However, commentators have expressed concern that the efforts of these training programs have placed ‘too great an emphasis on guidelines and research ethics review’, which will have limited effect on ensuring ethical conduct in research. What is needed instead is a culture of ethical conduct supported by national and institutional commitment to ethical practices that are reinforced by upstream enabling conditions (strong civil society, public accountability, and trust in basic transactional processes), which are in turn influenced by developmental conditions (basic freedoms of political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security). Examining this more inclusive understanding of the determinants of ethical conduct enhances at once both an appreciation of the limitations of current efforts of training programs in research ethics and an understanding of what additional training elements are needed to enable trainees to facilitate national and institutional policy changes that enhance research practices. We apply this developmental model to a training program focused in E gypt to describe examples of such additional training activities.
