Research Ethics and Integrity in Fragile Settings

This open-access book is an essential read for anyone interested in undertaking research in fragile settings, such as post-disaster regions, conflict or post-conflict zones, and high-crime informal settlements. More than a quarter of humanity live in conflict-affected regions and many more are affected by natural disasters, including the impacts of climate change. Research has a crucial role to play as the insights generated through research can improve future support efforts and help to make local systems more resilient. However, as this book highlights, researchers and research participants in fragile settings face significant, and sometimes unique, ethics challenges. Readers will not only learn about these challenges but also how to address them responsibly through application of a bespoke ethics code, the TRUST Code Supplement. Thus, the book will be of interest to researchers, research ethics committee members, funders and publishers who are committed to supporting ethically sound research in challenging environments. “What makes this book particularly valuable is not only the guidance it offers but also that it shows the rigorous process through which that guidance was developed.” Dr Mihalis Kritikos, Secretary of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies and a Senior Policy Analyst at the Ethics and Integrity Sector of the European Commission.