A case study of researchers’ knowledge and opinions about the ethical review process for research in Botswana

Abstract

Most countries, including Botswana, have established Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to provide oversight of research involving human beings. Although much has been published on the structure and function of IRBs around the world, there is less literature that empirically describes the perspectives of stakeholders in low-and middle-income country (LMIC) settings regarding IRB processes. In this study, we employed primarily quantitative methods to examine the perceptions of researchers at the University of Botswana (UB) about the review of research protocols by local IRBs. Data were collected using a web-based survey (SurveyMonkey 1 ). This was a preliminary effort to document some of the emerging experiences of researchers with ethics review in a context where both research and research oversight are relatively new. Findings from 85 researchers indicate that researchers recognized the need for an IRB to review all human research protocols, expressed the need for research ethics training, experienced high rates of approval at government ministries and UB, and generally believed that ethics review processes can help researchers themselves better understand and appreciate research ethics in general. Though only about one-quarter of respondents reported a more positive view of research ethics after interacting with the UB IRB, 56.5 percent reported no change. In contexts where IRBs have recently been established, it can be particularly important to document the perspectives of researchers in order to align expectations with capabilities, and identify areas where IRBs can improve operations. Future efforts to advance research ethics and ethical review in Botswana should include establishing research ethics training requirements and courses for researchers, increasing investment in IRBs and their training, further developing institutional and national research ethics policies, and formalizing agreements between IRBs and others involved in research oversight in the country to support coordinated review.

The features and qualities of online training modules in research ethics: a case study evaluating their institutional application for the University of Botswana

“…Whilst online research ethics courses could be utilized in the short term, the findings from this research also echo the sentiments expressed by previous research that higher academic institutions in low resourced countries must institutionalize research ethics training through the mounting of undergraduate as well as graduate courses (Hyder et al, 2013;Ralefala et al, 2016). In the case of UB, there is a crop of faculty members who have been trained in research ethics (Kass & Hyder, 2015;Ndebele et al, 2014;Oukem-Boyer & Bukusi, 2015).…”

“…Consistent with this progress, institutions of higher learning in sub-Saharan region seem to be requiring increased training capacity for researchers (Ajuwon & Kass, 2008;Ateudjieu et al, 2010;Coetzee, Hoffmann, & de Roubaix, 2015;Hyder et al, 2013;Millum et al, 2013). Recent studies conducted in Botswana, however, show that limited research ethics training is available for UB academic staff, Institutional Review Board (IRB) members and students (Barchi, Kasimatis-Singleton, Kasule, Khulumani, & Merz, 2013;Barchi, Matlagela, Jones, Kebaabetswe, & Merz, 2015;Hyder et al, 2013;Ndebele et al, 2014;Ralefala, Ali, Kass, & Hyder, 2016). Training that has taken place has been in the form of short workshops and seminars for academic staff and IRB members (Barchi et al, 2013(Barchi et al, , 2015Ralefala et al, 2016).…”

“…Recent studies conducted in Botswana, however, show that limited research ethics training is available for UB academic staff, Institutional Review Board (IRB) members and students (Barchi, Kasimatis-Singleton, Kasule, Khulumani, & Merz, 2013;Barchi, Matlagela, Jones, Kebaabetswe, & Merz, 2015;Hyder et al, 2013;Ndebele et al, 2014;Ralefala, Ali, Kass, & Hyder, 2016). Training that has taken place has been in the form of short workshops and seminars for academic staff and IRB members (Barchi et al, 2013(Barchi et al, , 2015Ralefala et al, 2016). A few academic staff members teaching research methods courses have also made efforts to integrate research ethics topics in their courses (Hyder et al, 2013).…”

Evaluation of a University’s Institutional Review Board Based on Campus Feedback: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…As is the case at Alfaisal University, their case study was an initial effort to document researchers’ ethics outreach and education in a context where both research and research oversight are relatively new. Findings revealed that researchers indeed recognized the critical need for research ethics training and that ethics review processes can help researchers better understand and value research ethics [17].…”