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Background: Research cites shortcomings and challenges facing research ethics committees in many regions across the world including Arab countries. This paper presents findings from qualitative in-depth interviews with research ethics committee (REC) chairs to explore their views on the challenges they face in their work with the oversight of research involving human populations. Methods: Virtual in-depth interviews were conducted with chairs (n = 11) from both biomedical and/or social-behavioral research ethics committees in six countries, transcribed, coded and subject to thematic analysis for recurring themes. Results: Two sets of recurring themes impede the work of the committees and pose concerns for the quality of the research applications: (1) procedures and committee level challenges such as heavy workload, variations in member qualification, impeding bureaucratic procedures, member overwork, and intersecting socio-cultural values in the review process; (2) inconsistencies in the researchers' competence in both applied research ethics and research methodology as revealed by their applications. Conclusions: Narratives of REC chairs are important to shed light on experiences and issues that are not captured in surveys, adding to the body of knowledge with implications for the region, and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in other parts of the world. International research collaborations could benefit from the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In generating new knowledge in all fields related to human subjects research, research ethics is key. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed a remarkable increase in research involving human participants, but robust contextually relevant guidelines and local capacity to guide ethical research are lacking. The research protocol presented and discussed here represents the methodology used to assess the landscape of applied research ethics in the region from the narratives of several constituencies in the research process, namely researchers, research ethics committee chairs and directors of research institutions. The study is a three-year multi-phase, multi-method research which involved a sequence of phases starting with a desk review, writing country reports, focus groups, and in-depth interviews, followed by a regional survey. The lead research team worked with country teams in 6 sites in the MENA region to conduct the empirical research which will be described in detail and reflected on for rigor and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]