Ethics review procedures

Rapid technological development and political upheavals in recent years have raised new research ethics concerns, requiring sensitivity to identify ethically problematic areas in SSH research. Increasing use of the internet and social media data in research methodology is a case in point. Crises outside the Europe Union (EU), coupled with migration, have given rise to new, socially important issues, requiring the involvement of new, potentially vulnerable groups of people in research, but also calling for social science research in crisis areas. The many important topics to be addressed by SSH research demand attention to research ethics. It is important to guarantee safe conditions for research participation for people who may benefit from research, but also for researchers themselves. Much of the advice below is widely available in various literature and guidance documents published by funding bodies, communities of SSH researchers, learned societies and professional organisations. Their role continues to be central for SSH researchers. This document is designed to give practical advice on integrating ethics into the planned research by providing, wherever possible, checklists for points at which a pause is needed to reflect and plan the action to be taken.