Ethical Oversight of Research Involving Humans, Animals and Vulnerable Populations

1. General principle

Research published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Management (IJDRM) must respect human dignity, rights, safety, privacy, cultural values, animal welfare and the principle of avoiding unnecessary harm. These responsibilities are especially important in disaster and crisis research, where participants may be displaced, injured, bereaved, traumatised, economically dependent, under institutional authority or otherwise vulnerable.

2. Ethics review and approval

Research involving human participants, identifiable human data, human biological material or interventions must have prior approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or review board when such approval is required. The manuscript must identify the approving body, institution, approval number and date. If formal review was not required or was unavailable, the authors must explain the legal and institutional basis and describe the safeguards applied.

Approval obtained after data collection will not normally be accepted as a substitute for prospective review. The editor may request the approval letter, protocol, consent materials or related documentation.

3. Informed consent

Participation must be voluntary and based on adequate information about the purpose, procedures, foreseeable risks, benefits, confidentiality, data use, right to decline and right to withdraw without penalty. Consent should be documented in a form appropriate to the research context and approved protocol.

Where written consent is unsafe, culturally inappropriate or impracticable, another documented process may be used if ethically justified and approved. The manuscript must explain that process. Consent to participate does not automatically include consent to publish identifiable information, images, audio, video or detailed case material; separate publication consent may be required.

4. Vulnerable populations and disaster-affected communities

Additional safeguards are required when research involves children, persons with disabilities, displaced people, refugees, survivors, bereaved families, patients, persons in shelters or camps, economically dependent groups, detained persons, emergency personnel under command structures, or communities experiencing acute crisis.

Authors must explain why inclusion is necessary, how power imbalances and undue influence were addressed, how distress was minimised, how referral or support procedures were organised when appropriate, and how participation was separated from access to aid, services, employment, grades or official decisions.

5. Children and persons unable to provide full consent

Research involving children or adults who cannot provide full informed consent must follow applicable law and ethics requirements. Permission from a parent, guardian or legally authorised representative must be obtained where required, together with the participant’s assent whenever possible. The participant’s welfare takes priority over research objectives.

6. Privacy, confidentiality and identifiability

Authors must minimise the collection of identifiable information, apply appropriate anonymisation or pseudonymisation, restrict access to sensitive records and describe how data were stored and protected. Removing names alone may be insufficient where locations, occupations, events, quotations or combinations of characteristics could identify participants.

Exact coordinates, photographs, maps or operational details must not expose vulnerable populations, shelters, protected infrastructure, responders or communities to avoidable risk.

7. Research in emergencies and rapidly changing conditions

Urgency does not remove ethical obligations. Rapid assessments and emergency research should use proportionate review procedures, minimise participant burden, avoid interference with response operations, coordinate responsibly with local authorities and communities, and include plans for secure data handling and communication of findings.

8. Community engagement, local knowledge and cultural respect

Studies using community, Indigenous, traditional or local knowledge should engage respectfully with knowledge holders, recognise collective interests where relevant, avoid extractive practices, and describe how permissions, attribution, benefit sharing and culturally sensitive information were handled.

9. Deception and incomplete disclosure

Deception or incomplete disclosure must be scientifically necessary, present no more than minimal risk, receive prior ethics approval and be followed by appropriate debriefing when feasible. Authors must justify the approach in the manuscript.

10. Secondary data, social media and publicly accessible information

Public availability does not automatically eliminate ethical responsibilities. Authors must consider users’ reasonable expectations of privacy, platform terms, the sensitivity and identifiability of content, the risk of quoting searchable text, and whether ethics review or consent is required. Use of administrative, health, police, humanitarian or geospatial records must comply with the permissions and safeguards governing those records.

11. Animal research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable laws and recognised welfare standards and receive approval from an appropriate committee when required. The manuscript must identify the approving body and approval number and describe measures to minimise pain, distress and unnecessary use. Relevant reporting guidance, such as ARRIVE, should be followed where applicable.

12. Biosafety, environmental and field safety

Authors must comply with applicable biosafety, environmental, occupational and field-safety requirements. Research should not create unreasonable risks for participants, researchers, responders, local communities or ecosystems. Necessary permits and authorisations must be reported.

13. Security-sensitive and dual-use research

Research concerning critical infrastructure, hazardous materials, cyber systems, emergency operations, public safety or other dual-use subjects must balance scientific transparency with the prevention of foreseeable misuse. Authors should identify material risks, explain access restrictions and cooperate with editors on proportionate safeguards without using security as a reason to conceal methodological weaknesses.

14. Clinical and intervention studies

Clinical trials and prospectively assigned health interventions must be registered in a recognised public registry before participant enrolment when required by accepted international standards. The registration number and relevant reporting guideline should be included in the manuscript.

15. Ethics statement in the manuscript

Where applicable, manuscripts must contain a dedicated Institutional Review Board Statement or Ethics Approval section and an Informed Consent Statement. If a requirement does not apply, authors should state and justify this clearly rather than omit the information.

16. Editorial action

The journal may request documentation, additional safeguards or clarification; suspend review; reject a manuscript; contact an institution; or take post-publication action when ethical requirements appear not to have been met. The absence of local regulation does not remove the authors’ responsibility to follow internationally recognised ethical principles.