Assistant Professor Kogetsu and Professor Kato’s article was published
Currently, there are no comprehensive rules or guidelines for the various electronic methods used to communicate with research participants, including methods for collecting electronic informed consent and online recruitment. Hence, we performed an ethical analysis to determine what the issues are and how they relate to each other.
The analysis is based on the Emanuel framework, which consists of eight ethical principles for clinical research: collaborative partnership, social value, scientific validity, fair participant selection, favorable risk-benefit ratio, independent review, informed consent, and respect for participants. For instance, we found that although there are many advantages to online communications, it is important to consider how patient access to the Internet varies according to circumstances and culture, which could affect participant recruitment, leading to selection bias.
We then developed the ethical framework which covers both the specific processes involved in medical research (from research design to the dissemination of results) and three overarching perspectives (access to research, community involvement, and independent review). We also proposed the practical guidance for independent reviewers, funding agencies, researchers, and patient partners. We believe the results of this study and its framework will improve future practice in medical research using the Internet.
Title: Framework and practical guidance for the ethical use of electronic methods for communication with participants in medical research
Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research
doi:10.2196/33167
