Research Ethics & Child Safeguarding

Research Ethics and Child Safeguarding

IKAD-ECCR gives particular priority to the dignity, rights, safety, privacy, and best interests of children involved in or affected by research.

Ethical approval

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable institutional, national, and professional ethical requirements. Where formal ethics review is required, authors must identify the approving ethics committee or institutional review body and provide the approval or reference number in the manuscript.

If formal ethical review was not required, authors must explain the basis for that determination where the research would otherwise reasonably raise ethical questions.

Informed consent

Researchers must obtain valid informed consent from adult participants and, where appropriate, from parents, legal guardians, or other authorised decision-makers for research involving children.

Children's assent

Children should be provided with developmentally appropriate information about the research and invited to provide assent whenever they are capable of expressing a view. A child's dissent or wish to withdraw should be respected wherever ethically and legally possible.

Best interests and minimisation of harm

Research procedures must minimise physical, psychological, social, legal, educational, and reputational risks. Researchers should ensure that participation does not expose children to avoidable distress, stigma, coercion, retaliation, or disadvantage.

Privacy and confidentiality

Authors must avoid unnecessary disclosure of information that could identify children, families, schools, care settings, or other vulnerable participants. Pseudonymisation or anonymisation should be used where appropriate.

Images, recordings and identifiable material

Photographs, audio, video, case narratives, quotations, or other materials that may identify a child require a clear ethical and legal basis for publication. Consent to participate in research does not automatically constitute consent for identifiable publication.

Safeguarding concerns

Research involving children must include appropriate procedures for responding to disclosures or indications of abuse, neglect, exploitation, violence, or serious risk of harm. Researchers must comply with applicable safeguarding and reporting obligations.

Vulnerable and marginalised populations

Additional safeguards are expected when research involves children experiencing disability, displacement, institutional care, poverty, conflict, discrimination, trauma, justice-system involvement, or other circumstances that may increase vulnerability or power imbalance.

Respectful representation

Authors must use language and interpretation that respect children's dignity, agency, diversity, and rights. Stigmatising, dehumanising, sensational, or deficit-based representation should be avoided unless critically analysed as part of the research itself.

Data protection

Research data involving children or other vulnerable participants must be stored, processed, shared, and retained in ways consistent with consent, confidentiality, safeguarding obligations, and applicable data-protection requirements.

Editorial action

The editors may request ethics documentation, consent information, safeguarding procedures, data-protection explanations, or additional clarification before review, acceptance, or publication. Manuscripts may be rejected when ethical protections are inadequate.