When it comes to ethically challenging or 'risky' work, university research ethics committees often have difficulty understanding both research contexts and how proposed methods will work in practice. This often means that important work is restricted, and sometimes event prevented altogether. It is also often the case that postgraduate researchers (and their supervisors) and early career researchers are often left unable to navigate these processes due to a lack of clear guidance.

This AHRC-funded research network has produced a research report aimed at research funding/governance bodies, universities, researchers, which sets out recommendations for supporting and managing ethically challenging research projects.

Recent papers and talks:

Kasstan J. R. & G. Pearson. 2024. 'Ethical committee frameworks and processes used to evaluate Humanities research require reform: Findings from a UK-wide network consultation'. Accountability in Research: Ethics, Integrity and Policy (https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2024.2382736) [Available online].

Kasstan, Jonathan & Geoff Pearson. 2023. Rethinking Research Ethics: Getting University Research Ethics Committees to think ethnographically. Talk at the Ethnography Symposium 2023, Vrije Universiteit (23-25 August).

Contact the Rethinking Research Ethics Network:

Click here to contact the Network PI.

Click here to contact the wider Network.