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Ethical approval and informed consent reporting in ASEAN journals: a systematic review.

Authors :
Laothavorn J
Wongwai P
Dumre SP
Kongjam P
Na-Bangchang K
Karbwang J
Source :
Current medical research and opinion [Curr Med Res Opin] 2019 Dec; Vol. 35 (12), pp. 2179-2186. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Sep 13.
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Background and objective: Scientific publication is a way to disseminate knowledge to the scientific community. However, an article usually has very little information on how and why ethical approval (EA) and informed consent (IC) was obtained, which can make it very difficult for a reader to evaluate the ethical validity of the study. While many internationally recognized journals and publishers have already adopted a high EA/IC reporting standard, many journals still fail to do so. The aim of this study was to explore the EA/IC reporting standards, as well as their implementation, of the Association of Southeastern Asian Nation (ASEAN) member journals. Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed for articles that were published in journals from ASEAN member states in 2016. The articles were then reviewed, categorized into study types, and given two scores-one for their EA statement and one for their IC statement-ranging from 0-4. A list of journals was compiled from the articles retrieved and their instructions to authors regarding EA/IC statements were scored on a scale of 0-2. The data was statistically analyzed using Chi-square test (2-sided) with SPSS (version 21) with p -value < .05 being considered statistically significant. Results: While a high proportion of articles adequately reported EA, many failed to report IC. Journals with better EA and IC instruction scores had a higher percentage of articles that adequately reported EA/IC. There were significant relationships between EA/IC statement scores and journals' instructions scores (EA: p  = .002; IC: p  = .019). Conclusions: There may be a need for journals to play key roles in advocating the importance of reporting EA and IC by strictly enforcing high EA/IC reporting standards and refusing the publication of articles that fail to comply.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1473-4877
Volume :
35
Issue :
12
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Current medical research and opinion
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
31334686
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/03007995.2019.1647505