4757-5-07. Standards of ethical practice and professional conduct: research and publication

(A) Responsibilities in conducting research:

(1) Use of human subjects: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall plan, design, conduct, and report research in a manner consistent with pertinent ethical principles, federal and state laws, host institutional regulations, and scientific standards governing research with human subjects. Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall design and conduct research that reflects cultural sensitivity appropriateness.

(2) Deviation from standard practices: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall seek consultation and observe stringent safeguards to protect the rights of research participants when a research problem suggests a deviation from standard acceptable practices.

(3) Precautions to avoid injury: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who conduct research with human subjects are responsible for the subjects' welfare throughout the experiment and shall take reasonable precautions to avoid causing injurious psychological, physical, or social effects to their subjects. Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall warn clients of any possible harm that might come from being involved in a research project.

(4) Principal researcher responsibility: The ultimate responsibility for ethical research practice lies with the principal researcher. All others involved in the research activities share ethical obligations and full responsibility for their own actions.

(5) Minimal interference: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall take reasonable precautions to avoid causing disruptions in subjects' lives due to participation in research.

(6) Diversity: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall be sensitive to diversity and research issues.

(B) Informed consent in conducting research and publishing:

(1) Topics disclosed: In obtaining informed consent for research, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall use language that is understandable to research participants and that:

(a) Accurately explain the purpose and procedures to be followed;

(b) Identify any procedures that are experimental or relatively untried;

(c) Describe the attendant discomforts and risks;

(d) Describe the benefits or changes in individuals or organizations that might be reasonably expected;

(e) Disclose appropriate alternative procedures that would be advantageous for subject:

(f) Offer to answer any inquiries concerning the procedures;

(g) Ascribe any limitations on confidentiality, and;

(h) Instruct that subjects are free to withdraw their consent and discontinue participation in the project at any time.

(2) Deception: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall not conduct research involving deception unless alternative procedures are not feasible and the prospective value of the research justifies the deception. When the methodological requirements of a study necessitate concealment or deception, the investigator shall explain clearly the reasons for this action as soon as possible.

(3) Voluntary participation: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall ensure that participation in research is voluntary and without any penalty for refusal to participate. Involuntary participation shall be appropriate only when investigators can demonstrate that participation shall have no harmful effects on subjects and is essential to the investigation.

(4) Confidentiality of information: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall be responsible for ensuring information obtained about research participants during the course of an investigation is confidential. When the possibility exists that others may obtain access to such information, ethical research practice requires that the possibility, together with the plans for protecting confidentiality, shall be explained to participants as a part of the procedure for obtaining informed consent.

(5) Persons incapable of giving informed consent: When a person is not capable of giving informed consent, counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists shall provide an appropriate explanation, obtain agreement for participation and obtain appropriate consent from a legally authorized person.

(6) Commitments to participants: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall take reasonable measures to honor all commitments to research participants.

(7) Explanations after data collections: After data is collected, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall provide participants with full clarifications of the nature of the study to remove any misconceptions. Where scientific or human values justify delaying or withholding information, counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists shall take reasonable measures to avoid causing harm.

(8) Agreements to cooperate: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who agree to cooperate with another individual in research or publication incur an obligation to cooperate as promised in terms of punctuality of performance and with regard to the completeness and accuracy of the information required.

(9) Informed consent for sponsors: In the pursuit of research, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall give sponsors, institutions, and publication channels the same respect and opportunity for giving informed consent that they accord to individual research participants. Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall be aware of their obligation to future research workers and ensure that host institutions are given feedback information and proper acknowledgment.

(C) Reporting results of research and publishing:

(1) Information affecting outcome: When reporting research results, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall explicitly mention all variables and conditions known to the investigator that may have affected the outcome of a study or the interpretation of this data.

(2) Accurate results: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall plan, conduct and report research accurately and in a manner that minimizes the possibility that results will be misleading. They shall provide thorough discussions of the limitations of their data and alternative hypotheses. Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall not engage in fraudulent research, distort data, misrepresent data, or deliberately bias their results.

(3) Obligation to report unfavorable results: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall communicate to other counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists the results of any research judged to be of professional value. Results that reflect unfavorably on institutions, programs, services, prevailing opinions, or vested interests shall not be withheld.

(4) Identity of subjects: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who supply data, aid in the research of another person, report research results, or make original data available shall take due care to disguise the identity of respective subjects in the absence of specific authorization from the subjects to do otherwise.

(5) Replication studies: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall make available sufficient original research data to qualified professionals who may wish to replicate the study.

(D) Publication of research results:

(1) Recognition of others: When conducting and reporting research, counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall be familiar with, and give recognition to, previous work on the topic, observe copyright laws, and give full credit to those to whom credit is due.

(2) Contributors: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall give credit through joint authorship, acknowledgment, footnote statements, or other appropriate means to those who have contributed significantly to research or concept development in accordance with such contributions. The principal contributor shall be listed first and minor technical or professional contributions shall be acknowledged in notes or introductory statements.

(3) Student research: For an article that is substantially based on a student's dissertation or thesis, the student shall be listed as the principal author.

(4) Duplicate submission: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists shall submit manuscripts for consideration to only one journal at a time. Manuscripts that are published in whole or in substantial part in another journal or published work shall not be submitted for publication without acknowledgment and permission from the previous publication.

(5) Professional review: Counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who review material submitted for publication, research, or other scholarly purposes shall respect the confidentiality and proprietary rights of those who submitted it.

Effective: 9/3/2018
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 5/24/2018 and 07/03/2023
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4757.11
Rule Amplifies: 4757.11
Prior Effective Dates: 09/19/1985 (Emer.), 12/19/1985, 05/22/1986, 06/11/1995 (Emer.), 07/03/1997, 08/02/2001, 09/20/2002, 04/10/2004, 01/01/2006, 11/08/2007, 10/18/2009