Ethics in Clinical Research

Ethics in clinical research examines how medical studies involving human participants should be designed and conducted in ways that protect individuals from harm, respect their autonomy, and distribute the benefits and burdens of research fairly across society. Central to this work is the practice of informed consent — ensuring that participants genuinely understand what they are agreeing to — alongside questions of how to safeguard vulnerable populations and maintain public trust as research methods grow more complex, from large-scale clinical trials to genomic studies and biobanks that store biological samples for future use. A persistent challenge is the underrepresentation of minority and marginalized communities in research, which both limits the generalizability of scientific findings and reflects deeper inequities in who gets to shape and benefit from medical knowledge. Researchers are actively working out how existing ethical frameworks need to adapt to emerging technologies, cross-institutional data sharing, and the tension between individual privacy and the collective value of large-scale health data.

Works

63,619

Total citations

686,615

Keywords

Informed ConsentClinical TrialsResearch ParticipationEthical GuidelinesMinority RecruitmentGenomic Research