Why We Need Stricter Oversight of Research Involving Human Subjects Affected by Conflict.

Background: Despite the potential for ethical violations when research is conducted with conflict-affected populations, there is limited information on how and the extent to which ethical considerations specific to doing research with these populations are integrated into national and international ethics guidelines and, in turn, how these guidelines translate into practice. This study aims to fill this gap by systematically analyzing the existing research ethics guidance of humanitarian donor countries, conflict-affected countries, United Nations (UN) agencies, and funding agencies, as well as ethics reporting in research articles on conflict-affected populations published in peer-reviewed journals.

Methods: A review of 32 research ethics guidelines and granting regulations from UN agencies, donor agencies, and governments was conducted, and the reporting of ethics procedures and practices of 498 articles published in peer-reviewed journals was analyzed.