Knight, S., et al. (2024).
PLoS ONE, 19(10), e0309715.
Abstract
Background
Emerging technologies and societal changes create new ethical concerns and greater need for cross-disciplinary and cross–stakeholder communication on navigating ethics in research. Scholarly articles are the primary mode of communication for researchers, however there are concerns regarding the expression of research ethics in these outputs. If not in these outputs, where should researchers and stakeholders learn about the ethical considerations of research?
Objectives
Drawing on a scoping review, analysis of policy in a specific disciplinary context (learning and technology), and reference group discussion, we address concerns regarding research ethics, in research involving emerging technologies through developing novel policy that aims to foster learning through the expression of ethical concepts in research.
Approach
This paper develops new editorial policy for expression of research ethics in scholarly outputs across disciplines. These guidelines, aimed at authors, reviewers, and editors, are underpinned by:
- a cross-disciplinary scoping review of existing policy and adherence to these policies;
- a review of emerging policies, and policies in a specific discipline (learning and technology); and,
- a collective drafting process undertaken by a reference group of journal editors (the authors of this paper).
Results
Analysis arising from the scoping review indicates gaps in policy across a wide range of journals (54% have no statement regarding reporting of research ethics), and adherence (51% of papers reviewed did not refer to ethics considerations). Analysis of emerging and discipline-specific policies highlights gaps.
Conclusion
Our collective policy development process develops novel materials suitable for cross-disciplinary transfer, to address specific issues of research involving AI, and broader challenges of emerging technologies.
Here are some thoughts:
This research explored the intersection of emerging technologies and research ethics, focusing on the development of editorial policies. Their study employed a scoping review combined with a reference panel to identify key ethical challenges and tensions arising from the use of new technologies in research. The research highlights the need for updated and robust research ethics policies to address these challenges, particularly given the rapid advancements in fields like artificial intelligence. Essentially, the authors argue that existing ethical frameworks may not be sufficient to handle the complexities introduced by emerging technologies, and they propose a process for developing new editorial policies to guide ethical research practices in this evolving landscape.
