On 10 Mar 2011, at 20:28, Dawes, Martin wrote:
> Dear all
> I am reviewing ethics applications from residents that involve human subjects. An anxiety I have is that although the research may get done it may not be published. Is this in itself unethical?
This is a question which periodically exercises our ethics committee.
There are two reasons why research may not be published:
a) it is good, original research but it challenges received opinion. In this case, the research is ethical, it is the vested interests of journals which pose the ethical problem. (I am thinking of research which showed widespread failure to achieve therapeutic levels using 70mg of aspirin in heavier patients. It took ages to publish because no-one wanted to believe us!)
b) the research is deficient - either because of design or because of insufficient data. We would take the view that it is unethical to carry out research that does not promise to be of publishable quality. Such research is an abuse of the co-operation of the participants and comes at an opportunity cost.
Ronán Conroy
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Associate Professor
Division of Population Health Sciences
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Beaux Lane House
Dublin 2
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