A call for structured ethics appendices in social science papers

Edward Asiedu, Dean Karlan, Monica Lambon-Quayefio and Christopher Udry
Additional contact information
Edward Asiedu: Department of Finance, University of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana
Monica Lambon-Quayefio: Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, vol. 118, issue 29, e2024570118

Abstract: Ethics in social science experimentation and data collection are often discussed but rarely articulated in writing as part of research outputs. Although papers typically reference human subjects research approvals from relevant institutional review boards, most recognize that such boards do not carry out comprehensive ethical assessments. We propose a structured ethics appendix to provide details on the following: policy equipoise, role of the researcher, potential harms to participants and nonparticipants, conflicts of interest, intellectual freedom, feedback to participants, and foreseeable misuse of research results. We discuss each of these and some of the norms and challenging situations of each. We believe that discussing such issues explicitly in appendices of papers, even if briefly, will serve two purposes: more complete communication of ethics can improve discussions of papers and can clarify and improve the norms themselves.

Keywords: ethics; randomized controlled trials; primary data collection; surveys; methodology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Working Paper: A Call for Structured Ethics Appendices in Social Science Papers (2021)
Working Paper: A Call for Structured Ethics Appendices in Social Science Papers (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:118:y:2021:p:e2024570118

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