Ethical obligations

When collecting data from human participants, it is essential to adhere to ethical principles. This includes protecting participants’ rights, maintaining research integrity, ensuring compliance with legal and moral standards, and minimising harm. Below are some additional ethical considerations to keep in mind when collecting, using, and sharing primary data:

• Informed consent: Informed consent requires clearly explaining the purpose of data collection, how the data will be used, and any potential risks or benefits. Participants must voluntarily agree to participate and fully understand the study. They should also be informed about how their data may be used in the future, such as in publications or shared in a repository for others to access. For considerations regarding unconsented studies, please see Research without consent.
• Protecting privacy and confidentiality: Protecting privacy and confidentiality is essential when handling primary data from human participants. In the UK, the duty of confidentiality is a legal and ethical obligation that ensures individuals’ information is not shared unfairly or without their consent. Breaching this duty can lead to significant legal consequences. Besides the ethical considerations, there is this legal consideration in common law, which further emphasizes the importance of maintaining confidentiality. However, data can be disclosed under specific conditions: when participants explicitly consent to its use or when disclosure is legally mandated, for example, through a court order or statutory requirement. It is vital that researchers clearly explain these exceptions to participants during the consent process.
• Transparency: Transparency and honesty are essential for building trust when sharing research data. From the start of data collection, researchers should communicate the purpose of the research and how participants’ data will be used to ensure they fully understand their involvement. It is also important to disclose any potential conflicts of interest or funding sources that could influence the research, promoting an open and ethical approach throughout the data-sharing process.
• Minimising harm: Minimising harm is a core ethical principle in data sharing. Researchers should ensure that participants are not exposed to physical, psychological, or social harm. In addition, data sharing practices should be designed to mitigate risks, with particular care taken to protect vulnerable populations and safeguard their well-being throughout the research lifecycle.
• Voluntary participation: Voluntary participation is crucial when working with research data. Participants should consent to having their data shared entirely of their own free will, without any pressure or coercion. They must also be informed of their right to withdraw from participation, with no negative consequences or repercussions, ensuring their autonomy is respected.
• Accuracy and integrity: Maintaining data accuracy and integrity is essential when collecting, using, and sharing research data. Data should be collected, used, and shared honestly, without any fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting that could undermine the study’s credibility. Using valid and reliable methods for data collection and analysis ensures that the research data is trustworthy and accurately represents the true outcomes of the research.
• Mitigating bias: Fair representation is crucial to ensure balanced and credible findings. Researchers should avoid bias in how data is presented or interpreted, ensuring that the research data remains objective and accurate. In qualitative research, it’s particularly important to fairly represent all perspectives, capturing the diversity of viewpoints to offer a comprehensive and equitable understanding of the subject.
• Legal and regulatory compliance: Legal and regulatory compliance is a cornerstone of ethical research. Researchers must adhere to all applicable local, national, and international laws governing data collection and use. Additionally, it is essential to follow ethical guidelines established by institutional review boards (IRBs) or ethics committees, ensuring the study meets high standards of responsibility and accountability.
• Data retention duration: Researchers must communicate to participants what will happen to their data, such as anonymized data being deposited for future use or personal data being retained for a specified number of years, based on institutional policies. for example, anonymised data should be archived in perpetuity, allowing for reproducibility 10, 15, or even 100 years from now. This ensures that future researchers can validate findings, build upon previous work, and advance knowledge while maintaining the confidentiality of participants. In contrast, personal data—such as names and addresses—should only be retained for as long as necessary to meet the research objectives or legal requirements, after which it must be securely deleted to protect participants’ privacy. By establishing clear data retention policies and communicating them transparently, researchers can balance ethical considerations with the practical needs of long-term data stewardship.

By considering these principles at each stage of working with primary data, you can uphold ethical standards and ensure that your research is conducted responsibly and respectfully.

For further guidance on Ethical considerations associated with Qualitative Research methods – UK Statistics Authority includes a useful ethics checklist when designing qualitative research.

Researchers should consider the following ethical considerations when working with secondary data. While these issues may appear similar to those in primary research, they must be considered from the specific perspective of secondary data usage:

• Privacy and confidentiality: Privacy and confidentiality are crucial ethical considerations when working with secondary data. Researchers must ensure that any personal or sensitive information within the data is handled responsibly, protecting individuals’ identities and maintaining confidentiality. This includes adhering to relevant data protection regulations, anonymising data where necessary, and ensuring that access and usage comply with ethical guidelines.
• Avoiding bias: Researchers must critically assess the data sources for potential biases, such as selective reporting or sampling limitations, and acknowledge any inherent limitations.
• Accuracy and integrity: Ensuring that the data is accurate and reliable is crucial. Researchers must assess the quality of secondary data, considering its context and potential biases, to avoid drawing misleading conclusions.
• Transparency: Just as with primary data, transparency in how secondary data is sourced, analysed, and shared is essential. Researchers should clearly explain the sources and methods behind the data, ensuring that others can understand and assess the findings.
• Acknowledging data sources: It is important to credit the sources of secondary data. This ensures that the work of the original researchers is recognised, and helps maintain academic integrity.
• Data usage and purpose: Secondary data should only be used for the purposes it was originally collected for, or for purposes that align with the ethical guidelines under which the data was obtained. Researchers must ensure that the data is not used in ways that could harm or mislead the individuals or groups it represents. Researchers should also bear in mind the context that was behind the original data collection to avoid misinterpretation.
• Impact on vulnerable populations: it is imperative to exercise caution when dealing with secondary data that pertains to vulnerable populations, including minors.
• Legal and institutional requirements: Just as with primary data, researchers must follow any legal or institutional guidelines when using secondary data. This includes obtaining necessary permissions or licenses for access, particularly when the data is restricted or subject to specific regulations. Adhering to these requirements helps ensure that the use of secondary data remains ethical and lawful.
• Reproducibility: In terms of reproducibility, the methodology section should clearly outline the sources, and how secondary data was utilised, detailing any transformations or analyses that were conducted on the data. This includes explaining any processes or techniques applied to the data for interpretation and analysis. In addition, it is essential to take into account the terms and conditions and rights associated with the sources of secondary data, carefully considering what is permitted in terms of data sharing.

In order to provide information about secondary data sources, see variable information log template (Excel) that sets out the required information to facilitate future use. Detailed information on rights in research data can be found at our research data management web pages.

By following these ethical considerations, researchers can ensure that their use and sharing of secondary data is both responsible and respectful of the individuals and communities it represents.

In research with people, there may be a perceived tension between data sharing and data protection. Research Ethics Committees (RECs) can play a role in advising researchers on how the data they have collected or worked with can be shared and made available for reuse while upholding data protection and research ethics principles.

The role of RECs is to protect the safety, rights, and well-being of research participants and to promote ethically sound research. Among other duties, this involves ensuring that research complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 regarding the use of personal information collected in research.

RECs can play a mediating role in reconciling data sharing and data protection, so make sure that your institution’s ethical review procedures take data sharing and data publishing into consideration:

• Many research funders and journals expect or require data sharing (data to be made available in an archive or repository).
• Ethical review forms should ask whether there are plans for future data sharing.
• The ethical review board should consult the data management plan.
• Consent forms used should allow for data sharing, whilst also protecting the confidentiality of participants; even sensitive data can be shared if suitable procedures and precautions are taken, as is done at major data centres.
• Most research data obtained from participants can be successfully shared without breaching confidentiality.
• It is important to distinguish between personal data and research data in general.
• Data protection laws only apply to personal data, but they do not apply to anonymised data.
• Identifiable information may be excluded from data sharing.
• The three pronged strategy of gaining consent for data sharing, anonymising data, and controlling access will enable the ethical and legal sharing of data.

RECs play a critical role by providing information to researchers at the consent and planning stages on how to share data ethically.

Many funders and professional bodies publish their disciplinary codes of conduct that cover ethical principles. Below are links to ethical guidelines from other key research bodies:

• MRC ethics series Good research practice: Principles and guidelines (PDF)
• Best Practice – Health Research Authority
• Ethics Self-Assessment Tool – UK Statistics Authority
• Ethical Research Involving Children, ERIC, Child Ethics
• Data Ethics Framework – GOV.UK
• British Sociological Association (BSA) Statement of Ethical Practice (PDF)
• Ethical guidelines from the Social Research Association
• Ethical guidelines from the Oral History Society
• Ethics guide from the Association of Internet Researchers
• Archiving and Reusing Qualitative Data
• ESRC Framework for research ethics
• The Research Ethics Guidebook: a resource for social scientists.