SYNOPSIS
This abstract describes the problems related to research integrity in Georgian higher education institutions. The need to create/improve university documentation related to research integrity. This abstract analyzes the scientific research of the academic staff of one faculty of BSU.
Abstract
As Georgian higher education institutions become increasingly integrated into the international scientific space, adherence to international standards of research ethics has become essential. Ensuring ethical principles is particularly critical in research involving human participants—whether volunteers or patients. Conducting such research with ethical integrity requires clear institutional mechanisms that protect the rights and dignity of participants while ensuring methodological rigor and the reliability of results. The existence of institutional research ethics mechanisms not only protects participants but also enhances the credibility and quality of the research, which is indispensable for a university`s recognition within the global scientific community. However, at a regional state university in Georgia, as in other Georgian universities, institutional research ethics mechanisms require further development, particularly in fields involving human subjects such as biomedicine, psychology, and the social sciences.
Research is actively conducted at the university across various disciplines, with significant involvement from students at all levels, particularly at the Master’s and Doctoral stages. Research findings are published in scientific journals and presented at international conferences, becoming accessible to the wider scientific community. While the university has developed certain regulatory documents to protect research ethics and integrity, full compliance with modern national and international standards necessitates the strengthening of institutional mechanisms. Primarily, there is a need to establish a Research Ethics Committee (REC) to provide ethical expertise and offer researchers clear guidelines for conducting research with integrity, fairness, and efficiency. Such an institutional mechanism will increase research reliability and enable researchers to publish their work in high-impact international scientific journals.
To study these challenges and justify the need for developing institutional research ethics mechanisms, scientific publications authored by researchers from the university Faculty focused on biomedical sciences over the last 10 years were analyzed. This faculty was purposively selected because its research areas—including biomedicine, psychology, public health, and related disciplines—actively involve human participants. These individuals participate in surveys, interviews, focus groups, and psychological, physiological, or medical testing, or serve as subjects in observations and experiments, all of which place high ethical demands on research design and implementation.
The analysis of these publications revealed a significant trend: documentation of adherence to ethical standards has increased over the last five years. While publications from 2015–2017 practically contain mention of Research Ethics Committee approval only few times (Nakashidze et al., 2014), (Lawson et al, 2017) such records appear increasingly frequently between 2018 and 2026 (Garakanidze и др., 2018) (Tsintsadze et al., 2020); (Gabaidze и др., 2023); (Murvanidze et al., 2025); (Mortuladze et al., 2025); («The role of lipids and fatty acid metabolism in the development of prostate cancer, 2022); (Glonti et al., 2023); (Kekenadze et al., 2024) Researchers often state that the "research is ethically sound," "complies with international standards," or is "approved by a Research Ethics Committee." However, a persistent problem remains: due to the absence of a permanent Institutional Research Ethics Committee at the university, researchers are forced to seek approval from temporary commissions at various clinics or partner organizations. This process is labor-intensive, inefficient, inconsistent, and requires additional time and resources.
This study acknowledges certain limitations: the current analysis focuses exclusively on publications from the Faculty focused on biomedical sciences, which may not fully represent other faculties at the university. Human-centered research is also actively conducted in social sciences, education, psychology, and other disciplines that require ethical support. Therefore, it is recommended that the scope of this research be expanded in the future.
Keywords: Research Ethics Committee, institutional ethics, human-centered research, ethical review, scientific paper, Academic staff
Reference:
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