an international research ethics code developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity in Singapore in 2010.

in science, the obligation to avoid harmful societal consequences from one’s research and to promote good ones.

1. the social benefits expected to be gained from a scientific study, such as new knowledge or the development of a medical treatment or other technology. 2. The ethical principle that human subjects research should be expected to yield valuable results for society.

 the idea, defended by philosopher Peter Singer, that treating human beings as morally different from animals is a form of discrimination similar to racism. Singer argues that since all animals deserve equal moral consideration, most forms of animal experimentation are unethical. See Value, scale of.

rules and procedures for performing an activity, such as conducting or reviewing research.

a measure of the degree that an observed result (such as relationship between two variables) is due to chance. Statistical significance is usually expressed as a p-value. A p-value of 0.05, for example, means that the observed result will probably occur as a result of chance only 5% of the time.

rules for including/excluding human subjects in research. Subject selection should be equitable, i.e. subjects should be included or excluded for legitimate scientific or ethical reasons. For example, a clinical trial might exclude subjects who do not have the disease under investigation or are too sick to take part in the study safely. See Risk minimization, Justice.

see Legal authorized representative.

the ability to test a hypothesis or theory. Scientific hypotheses and theories should be testable.

1. The tendency for human subjects research in clinical research to believe that the study is designed to benefit them personally; 2. The tendency for the subjects of clinical research to overestimate the benefits of research and underestimate the risks.