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Archived research data may be scientifically valuable long after the original study ends, but depositing data in an archive does not erase researchers' ethical responsibilities. Secondary users need to understand the data's provenance, authorization, restrictions, privacy risks, and governance before reuse.
Read Guide →Researchers can sometimes use existing administrative, clinical, educational, or government records without obtaining individual consent, but there is no general research exemption simply because records already exist. The applicable pathway depends on identifiability, purpose, legal authority, ethics requirements, privacy protections, and the rules governing the records.
Read Guide →Participants should generally be informed about foreseeable incidental findings and given meaningful choices about receiving qualifying information when the research can support those choices. The options, however, should be defined clearly rather than reduced to an unexplained “tell me everything” checkbox.
Read Guide →A participant's threatening statement does not automatically create the same legal duty everywhere. Researchers should assess immediate safety through the study's approved procedure, involve qualified professionals, and determine the applicable confidentiality and duty-to-protect rules for their jurisdiction and professional roles.
Read Guide →Discovering possible illegal activity does not automatically require researchers to report it. Researchers should protect confidentiality, determine whether a specific legal or safety obligation applies, and follow the approved protocol rather than becoming investigators or informants by default.
Read Guide →Research, inquiry, and investigation all involve seeking answers, but the terms emphasize different aspects of that process. Understanding their overlap helps clarify when asking questions or investigating a problem becomes formal research.
Read Guide →A research gap describes what existing knowledge does not adequately answer, while a research problem defines the specific issue your study will investigate. Learn how the two concepts connect without treating them as interchangeable.
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