Responsible Conduct of Human Subjects Research in Islamic Communities

Sharing, reuse, and storage of biosamples among biomedical researchers in Jordan: Practice and concerns

BACKGROUND

Sharing and reuse biosamples can facilitate biomedical research. Little is known about researchers' perception and practice about sharing, reusing, and storing biosamples in Jordan. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the practices of biomedical researchers in Jordan regarding biosamples management.

METHODS

The study was cross-sectional and involved biomedical researchers from different parts of Jordan. A questionnaire was designed to achieve the aim of this study. The questionnaire was web-based and distributed via e-mails using Google forms.

RESULTS

Opinions of Jordanian biomedical researchers from different academic ranks and institutional backgrounds were measured and recorded anonymously. The majority of the sample was males (57.9%), from public universities (64.3%), and (64.6%) were from health-related fields. About 82.9% of participants stored biosamples using codes, whereas the rest used the subject's name. Sharing of biosamples was commonly practiced by 61.7% of Jordanian researchers locally, while 47.2% of the Jordanian researchers shared biosamples overseas. The reuse of biosamples in other projects was reported to be 55.4%. The majority explained the possibility of reusing and sharing biosamples in the consent form (range: 53-58%). Sharing and reusing biosamples were associated with gender, the number of publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and academic rank (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Sharing and reusing biosamples are common among Jordanian biomedical researchers. Therefore, ethically grounded biosamples sharing and reuse standards are essential for protecting human subjects' rights and privacy in Jordan.

Exploring Knowledge and Perceptions of Faculty Members about Authorship: A Study from Jordan

Authorship has important implications and carries considerable responsibilities. The present study explored faculty members knowledge and perceptions of authorship at Jordanian universities. For this research a survey was distributed to faculty members at three major universities in Jordan. The study found that only 33% of the participants were aware about International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). In addition, the knowledge of the participants about basic principles of authorship was rated as medium. The number of research and level of ICMJE knowledge was found to exert a significant effect on commitment to authorship principle subscale score. Finally, the majority expressed good authorship believes that graduate students should be the lead authors on the publications that are derived from their thesis. Knowledge about authorship principles among faculty members in Jordan needs improvements.

Awareness of pharmacy researchers about the national research code of ethics: A study from Jordan

OBJECTIVE

In Jordan, research ethics have been subject to increasingly formal regulations and structuring. Recently the Ministry of Higher Education and Research Published the National Research Code of Ethics. However, little is known about the awareness of pharmacology researchers of this code and the extent of its applicability to their research.

METHODS

Purposeful sampling through institutions' websites was used to identify staff members with excellent profiles from 20 Faculties of Pharmacy in Jordan. After obtaining the required approvals, in-depth interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using NVivo 11 Software. The interviews followed a previously prepared and validated interview guide that covered various aspects of education, research, and training.

KEY FINDINGS

Eighteen members of staff agreed to take part in the study. Qualitative analysis revealed three main themes each concerning respondents' awareness of the National Code of Research Ethics in Jordan. The emerging themes were: the lack of awareness regarding the code of ethics, the need for clear guidelines for pharmacology research in Jordan, and the need for further workshops and training courses for pharmacology researchers.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights a lack of awareness regarding the presence of the National Research Ethics Code among pharmacology researchers in Jordan. This might have negative implications on medical research. It was thought that the code of ethics should be incorporated in postgraduate pharmacy education, training courses for pharmacy researchers, and workshops for pharmacy academic staff.

Perceptions Towards Medical Research Participation: A Study from Jordan

PURPOSE

Progress and development in medical researches require the participation of volunteers in such research, but unfortunately, the participation rate is low. This study aimed to assess Jordanian public perceptions towards participation in medical research and to understand motivators and barriers that may affect their participation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted from December 2019 to February 2020. Adults from the public were invited to participate in this paper-based survey. The survey assessed public perception (values, trust and ethics), motivators, and barriers towards participation in medical research.

RESULTS

During the study period, 2000 subjects were recruited. Around 82.3% (n = 1643) strongly agreed/agreed that medical research is important for the advancement of science. Helping the society was found to be the main motivators to participate in medical research (n = 1708, 85.4%), while time constrains (n = 1400, 70.0%), lack of opportunity (n = 1278, 63.9%), and the lack of knowledge and awareness about these researches (n = 1152, 57.6%) were among the top barriers towards the participation in medical research. Finally, results showed that previous participation in medical research was correlated with lower overall perception of values and ethics of research, and higher trust in research (p-value <0.001).

CONCLUSION

Jordanians have positive perception toward participation in medical research, which could be improved by increasing awareness, trust, and training of researchers on responsible conduct of research(RCR) in the country.

Graduate students reported practices regarding the issue of informed consent and maintaining of data confidentiality in a developing country

Research involving human subjects requires strict adherence to ethical principles, including informed consent and assuring data confidentiality. Herein, a questionnaire was utilized to assess compliance of graduate students who conduct research involving human subjects in Jordan with proper practices related to informed consent and maintaining of data confidentiality. Among the 251 respondents, 55.4% were from health-related fields, 61.4% undertook research involving humans, and 48.6% did research requiring institutional review board approval. Only 37.1% of respondents reported exposure to research ethics education during their graduate study. Satisfactory adherence to informed consent practices was reported at rates of 56.0%-67.5%. Satisfactory adherence to practices related to data confidentiality and study participants' anonymity was reported at rates of 67.3%-74.7%. Sharing of data or samples with others was reported at a rate of 24.3%. The rates of adherence to proper informed consent practices and practices that maintain data confidentiality were less than ideal. Significant policy changes need to be implemented to address these issues.