Development of an Accessible Self-Assessment Tool for Research Ethics Committees in Developing Countries

• Published in: Journal of empirical research on human research ethics Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 85 - 96
• Main Authors: Sleem, Hany, Abdelhai, Rehab Abdelhai Ahmed, Al-Abdallat, Imad, Al-Naif, Mohammed, Gabr, Hala Mansour, Kehil, Et-taher, Sadiq, Bakr Bin, Yousri, Reham, Elsayed, Dyaeldin, Sulaiman, Suad, Silverman, Henry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA University of California Press 01.09.2010; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Bioethics; Certification; Consent forms; Developing Countries; Educational Measurement - methods; Ethics committees; Ethics Committees, Research; Ethics, Research - education; Humans; Institutional Ethics; Institutional review boards; LDCs; Medical ethics; Medical research; Middle East; Moral development; Professional Autonomy; Professional ethics; Research ethics; Research tools; Researchers; Review committees; Self evaluation; Middle East; human subjects protections; accreditation; research ethics committees; developing countries; self-assessment; Institutional Review Board
• ISSN: 1556-2646; 1556-2654
• DOI: 10.1525/jer.2010.5.3.85

In response to increased research being performed in developing countries, many research ethics committees (RECs) have been established, but the quality of their ethics review systems remains unknown. Evaluating the performance of an REC remains a challenging task. Absent an accreditation process, a selfassessment mechanism would provide RECs a way to review their policies and processes against recognized international standards. We describe a self-assessment tool that was developed and reviewed by REC members and researchers from the Middle East. This tool reflects pragmatic aspects of human subjects protection, is based on international standards, is straightforward in its completion, and its items are relevant to the administrative processes that exist in many RECs in the developing world.