Short abstract

Meta-research ethics demand nuanced governance; what is acceptable and what is not? Inviting diverse perspectives, this panel explores varied meta-research contexts, from academic studies to operational audits, with complex considerations of methods, risks, and comparative research standards.

Long abstract

Should meta-research be conducted under the same ethics and governance frameworks as other research? The obvious is answer is, yes, but should the same rules apply in all cases? What about trialling narrative CVs versus traditional CVs in promotion and hiring practices? Or A/B testing of two ways of handling export control compliance within a university? Or comparative studies of the performance of large language models and human peer reviewers for major conferences...?

Clear frameworks for the ethical conduct of research exist in certain research domains, such as biomedical research, but even here some landmark principles are not well-observed (such as the requirement for study registration in the Declaration of Helsinki ever since the 2013 revision – article 35).

The broad church of meta-research covers a spectrum from publishable academic studies to operational research and audit. Different kinds of investigators and participants are involved across this spectrum. Arguably different protections will be necessary in different contexts, and choosing which apply, and when, requires some fine judgements. Factors might include the research methods used, and who holds the risks, and – for comparative studies – what the unit of randomisation is (if randomisation is used) and whether equipoise is possible or ethical.

This panel will set out various perspectives on these issues, and invite the session participants to contribute. Notes will be taken and an open access report, under the Chatham House rule, will be published.