Research ethics guidance and resources

Introductory / general guidance

Research ethics: what, why and how: a brief overview (slides)

Ethics review considerations: A quick guide for researchers (students and staff)

LSE Research Ethics Policy and review procedures

LSE Research Ethics Policy

Ethics review in a nutshell (an overview of when ethics review is required and the review process)

Submitting an ethics review: please see our instructions.

Thematic guidance

Informed consent:

- Informed consent – includes guidance on written consent, verbal consent, the use of deception, researching sensitive issues, working with participants with diminished capacity, and provides sample templates.

- What is consent? – highlights the difference between consent in terms of ethics versus consent for data protection purposes

Payments and benefits to research participants

Research with children and vulnerable groups

If working with children, you may also find it very useful to look at the resources available on the Global Kids Online website.

Using social media data and Internet data in research

Data Management: please see the LSE guidance available here or check out the Research Data Management Toolkit.

Non-LSE / discipline-specific guidance

The Association of Internet Researchers: Internet Research: Ethical Guidelines 3.0

The Association of Social Anthropologists: Ethical Guidelines

The British Psychological Society: Code of human research ethics

The Market Research Society: Code of Conduct

The Social Research Association: Research Ethics Guidance.

ESRC Research Ethics Framework / Useful resources: a comprehensive list of professional ethics codes and guidelines

Support & contact

If you have any questions concerning research ethics guidance, please contact the Research Ethics Managers.

Weekly one-to-one surgeries

If you have any questions regarding ethics, data management/data protection or copyright, book a slot at one of our online surgeries; sessions are held on Thursdays from 3-4pm (on zoom). For more details and to book please click here.  

Should you wish to let us know about another helpful guidance, please contact us.