a person who reports suspected illegal or unethical activity, such as research misconduct or non-compliance with human subjects or animal regulations. Various laws and institutional policies protect whistleblowers from retaliation.

removing a human subjects research from a study. Subjects may voluntarily withdraw or be withdrawn by the researcher to protect them from harm or ensure the integrity of the study. Subjects who withdraw from a study may request to have their samples removed from the study (i.e. destroyed).