The Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics

The Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics provides a critical overview of the ethics of human subjects research within multiple disciplines and fields, including biomedicine, public health, behavioral science, psychiatry, sociology, political science, and public policy. Featuring 45 original essays by leading research ethicists, it aims to improve scholarship in research ethics by encouraging cross-disciplinary engagement with critical issues concerning the treatment of research participants.

Part 1 of the volume, The Practice and Institutional Context of Human Subjects Research, orients readers to the research ethics literature through discussion of historical, regulatory, and other features of human subjects research. It includes chapters on the nature of human subjects research, the highs and lows of research, and the regulations which govern it. Part 2, Key Concepts and Principles of Research Ethics, features cutting-edge critical overviews of the central ethical principles and requirements used to evaluate research, including chapters on respect for persons, social value, risk-benefit assessment, equipoise, and fair subject selection, among others. Part 3, Research Areas and Methods, explores how these principles and requirements apply across different disciplines and methodologies. It features chapters on the ethics of novel trial designs such as multi-arm platform trials as well as chapters addressing ethical issues which arise in different fields, including genetics and genomics, public health, behavioral science, sociology, political science, and public policy. Part 4, Research Participant Populations, concludes the volume with chapters addressing ethical questions that arise with research concerning certain populations, including Indigenous People, racial and ethnic minorities, women, and people with disabilities, among others.

Ana S. Iltis is Professor of Philosophy, Carlson Professor of University Studies, and Director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Douglas MacKay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also a Core Faculty Member in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program and the Center for Bioethics.