This guide, developed by the WHO and released in December 2013, aims to facilitate implementation research in LMICs.

2nd December 2013 • comment

Research misconduct is a global problem as research is a global activity. Wherever there is human activity there is misconduct, but we lack reliable data on the extent and distribution of research misconduct. This PLoS paper seeks to illustrate some examples of researsch misconduct in LMICs.

3rd April 2013 • comment

Ethical review and informed consent in cardiovascular research reports in Argentina

by Borrachi, R.A., Calderón, G., Seoane, M. R., Perez, A. C., Doval, H. C.
15th February 2013 • comment

Are students kidding with health research ethics? The case of HIV/AIDS research in Cameroon

by Nchangwi S Munung, Godfrey B Tangwa, Chi P Che, Laurent Vidal, Odile Ouwe-Missi-Oukem-Boyer

Universities in Cameroon are playing an active part in HIV/AIDS research and much of this research is carried out by students, usually for the purpose of a dissertation/thesis. Student theses/dissertations present research findings in a much more comprehensive manner and have been described as the stepping-stone of a budding scientist's potential in becoming an independent researcher. It is therefore important to verify how students handle issues of research ethics.

15th August 2012 • comment

The border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) is at the forefront of the global battle against malaria, and is an important site for research.

25th May 2012 • comment

The use of race, ethnicity and ancestry in human genetic research

by Sarah E. Ali-Khan, Tomasz Krakowski, Rabia Tahir, Abdallah S. Daar

Abstract Post-Human Genome Project progress has enabled a new wave of population genetic research, and intensified controversy over the use of race/ethnicity in this work. At the same time, the development of methods for inferring genetic ancestry offers more empirical means of assigning group labels. Here, we provide a systematic analysis of the use of race/ethnicity and ancestry in current genetic research. We base our analysis on key published recommendations for the use and reporting of race/ethnicity which advise that researchers: explain why the terms/categories were used and how they were measured, carefully define them, and apply them consistently. We studied 170 population genetic research articles from high impact journals, published 2008–2009. A comparative perspective was obtained by aligning study metrics with similar research from articles published 2001–2004. Our analysis indicates a marked improvement in compliance with some of the recommendations/guidelines for the use of race/ethnicity over time, while showing that important shortfalls still remain: no article using ‘race’, ‘ethnicity’ or ‘ancestry’ defined or discussed the meaning of these concepts in context; a third of articles still do not provide a rationale for their use, with those using ‘ancestry’ being the least likely to do so. Further, no article discussed potential socio-ethical implications of the reported research. As such, there remains a clear imperative for highlighting the importance of consistent and comprehensive reporting on human populations to the genetics/genomics community globally, to generate explicit guidelines for the uses of ancestry and genetic ancestry, and importantly, to ensure that guidelines are followed.

1st August 2011 • comment