Journal
ETHICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Volume 21, Issue 2, Pages 137-149Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10676-018-9495-z
Keywords
Internet research ethics; Online research ethics; Digital research ethics; Ethics guidelines for internet research; Belmont Report
Funding
- University of Deusto Research Training Grant (FPI 2016)
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The purpose of this article is to illuminate the conceptualisations and applications of the Belmont Report's key ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justicebased on a document analysis of five of the most relevant disciplinary guidelines on internet research in the social sciences. These seminal documents are meant to provide discipline-specific guidance for research design and implementation and are regarded as key references when conducting research online.Our analysis revealed that the principles of respect and beneficence were explicitly conveyed in the documents analysed, offering nuanced interpretations on issues of informed consent, privacy, and benefits and risks as well as providing recommendations for modifying traditional practices to fit the online setting. However,the invocations of the principle of justice were rather implicit and reflect an important shift from the Belmont Report's protectionist ethical position towards more situational and dialogic approaches. With the rapidly evolving nature of internet technologies, this analysis is projected to contribute to the ongoing developments in research ethics in the social sciences by outlining the tensions and implications of the use of the internet as a methodological tool. We also seek to provide recommendations on how disciplinary associations can proceed to facilitate ethically sensitive internet research.
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