Research conduct and ethics in the field

The following list of online resources, organisations and publications have been collated to support safe, responsible and ethical fieldwork. We welcome suggestions of additional materials to include.

The Society does not take responsibility for the content of the external sites. Inclusion on this list does not equate to an endorsement of any content or organisation. Please contact the external site for questions regarding individual resources.

 

Research conduct

Best Practice Guidance and Ethical Fieldwork Code of Conduct

Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (CUERC)

Best practice guidance documents for use by researchers including the ethical fieldwork code of conduct and toolkit, and guidance on topics including researcher safety, ethnographic research, payments and incentives in research, and conducting research outside the UK. 

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Good research resource

UK Research and Innovation (UK)

Policies, standards and guidance to support researchers in the areas including equality, diversity and inclusion, research integrity and equitable partnerships.

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Policy and guidelines for good research conduct

UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (UK)

ESRC policies regarding the maintenance of high standards of scientific and ethical practice.

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Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings

TRUST

A resource for all research stakeholders who want to ensure that research is carried out ethically in lower income settings and without ‘ethics dumping’, the export of unethical practices from high income to lower income countries.

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Sustainable fieldwork

Browse our 'Sustainable fieldwork' resources

 

Ethical research and fieldwork

Ethical Guidelines

RGS-IBG Development Geographies Research Group (DevGRG) (UK)

Guidelines intended as principles to which development geographers should seek to adhere. 

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Universal ethical code for scientists

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (UK)

Aims to encourage ethical research, thinking on the implications and impacts of scientific work, and support communication between researchers and the public on complex and challenging issues.

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Framework for research ethics

UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (UK)

Includes core principles, ethics case studies and frequently raised topics and questions.

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Fieldwork Ethics Forum

Luis A. Vivanco

Section from from 'Field Notes: A Guided Journal for Doing Anthropology'

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AAA Ethics Forum

​American Anthropological Association (USA)

Although these principles are primarily intended for AAA members, they also provide a structure for communicating ethical precepts in anthropology to students, other colleagues, and outside audiences, including sponsors, funders, and Institutional Review Boards or other review committees.

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Further reading

Journal of Research Practice (2014) Themed issue on ‘Giving back in field research’.

Kara, H. (2018) Research Ethics in the Real World Bristol: Policy Press.

Lunn, J. (ed.) (2014) Fieldwork in the Global South: Ethical Challenges and Dilemmas. London: Routledge.

• See especially Fagerholm, N. (2014) 'Whose knowledge, whose benefit? Ethical challenges of participatory mapping. Experience from fieldwork on mapping community values on land in Zanzibar’, pp. 158-169.

Madge, C. (1997) 'The ethics of research in the Third World', in Robson, E. and Willis, K. (eds.) DARG Monograph No. 8: Postgraduate Fieldwork in Developing Areas. London: DARG.

Robinson, J. (2003) ‘Postcolonialising geography: tactics and pitfalls’, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 24, pp. 273-289, doi.org/10.1111/1467-9493.00159.