Researchers' Knowledge About the Ethical Norms of National Natural Science Foundation of China Funded Medical Research:Current Status and Suggestions

Abstract

Objective To understand the current status of Chinese medical researchers' knowledge regarding the ethical norms of the research involving humans or laboratory animals,and provide reference for further improving the ethics review norms. Methods The questionnaire method was employed to survey the applicants for the 2019 projects supported by the Department of Medical Sciences,National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) about their knowledge of ethical requirements.Furthermore,the ethical supervision of the NSFC and affiliations at the project application and implementation stages was analyzed. Results The survey showed that 29.9% medical researchers were familiar with NSFC's ethical requirements for research involving human or laboratory animals.During the project application stage,59.0% affiliations adopted the simplified review method.Regarding the ethical supervison,95.5% medical researchers believed that the affiliations should fulfill the ethical supervision obligations and take relevant measures during the project implementation period.In addition,55.0% medical researchers fully agreed to discuss with the review experts about the ethical issues involved in the project. Conclusions The NSFC should establish rules and regulations to improve institutional management responsibilities and institutionalize the training about research ethics to comprehensively strengthening the training.Taking the management of research project ethics as a starting point,the NSFC should form a multi-party linkage between project funding and management and establish an accountability mechanism for ethics management.Furthermore,the NSFC should double the endeavors at the review of ethical issues during expert review and process management and attach importance to the research,judgment,and prevention of ethical risks.