What Does Multilingual Research Show Us About Research Ethics? Examples and Challenges From the Field

Sophia Schönthaler, Andrea Leone‐Pizzighella and Johanna Mitterhofer
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Sophia Schönthaler: Center for Migration and Societal Change, Eurac Research, Italy
Andrea Leone‐Pizzighella: Marie Sklodowska‐Curie Fellow, Institute for Applied Linguistics, Eurac Research, Italy
Johanna Mitterhofer: Center for Migration and Societal Change, Eurac Research, Italy

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: Ethics review boards (ERBs) often clash with the emergent, iterative, and co‐constructed nature of critical and constructivist research. Conversely, these approaches also challenge ERBs, particularly around the role of language in informed consent, knowledge co‐construction, and dissemination. Multilingual research makes these tensions especially visible by foregrounding how language shapes research processes. This article examines the overlooked ethical dimensions of multilingual research, especially in relation to institutional ethics review. Drawing on our multilingual work with marginalized communities, we show how language mediates critical aspects of research practice: from obtaining consent and navigating gatekeeping to co‐constructing knowledge. We pursue three aims: (a) reflect on how language mediates ethics approval in critical and constructivist inquiry; (b) explore how sensibility toward language fosters epistemic justice, cultural sensitivity, and methodological appropriateness; and (c) raise awareness of the role of language in ethics procedures, research relationships, and definitions of data. We illustrate these aims with fieldwork examples highlighting the challenges of building trust under restrictive ethics protocols; the need for nuanced linguistic practices in contexts of inequality and underrepresentation; and the use of arts‐based methods as an alternative to language‐based approaches. The article concludes with examples from the formation of our multilingual institute’s ERB and recommendations for other boards.

Keywords: arts‐based methods; dialogic and oral ethics; discrimination; institutional ethics; Italy; migration; multilingualism; participatory methods; research ethics; Romani; school‐based research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:10805

DOI: 10.17645/si.10805

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