Respondents’ demographics and experience
Faculty members (n=137) were included in the study with a 51% response rate. There were 74 (54%) males. Table 1 shows their demographic characteristics and their distribution according to academic rank, and research experience. Mean age of the participants was 42.2 ± 11.7 years. Most respondents were engaged in research projects provided by their publications' record during the last five years. The vast majority of respondents were involved in human or animal research (n = 131, 96%). However, only two thirds of them (n = 87, 64%) had prior research ethics course or training. No statistically significant association was detected linking prior research ethics training with the specific country or region where the respondent had obtained his/her highest academic degree.
Importance of research ethics field
Majority of respondents (87%) thought research is bound by ethics and morality. Further, 91% of respondents thought that all investigators should have training in research ethics, and 87% of them believed that there should be a mandatory postgraduate course on research ethics (Table 2). Nevertheless, there were misconceptions about the purposes that research ethics should serve among some of the researchers. For example, 25% of respondents thought that one of the goals of research ethics is to maximize publication quantity, and 15% of them thought that securing personal finances is one of the goals.
Knowledge of research ethics, Informed Consent, and RECs role
About 60% of respondents considered gaining public trust as a major theme of research ethics. Moreover, 75% of participants considered research ethics as flexible and which can be tailored towards different societies and cultures. In addition, 93% of participants claimed familiarity with the major ethical principles. However, only 43% of them could specifically point out the three major ethical principles (Autonomy, Justice, and Non-maleficence). Figure 1 illustrates the familiarity of respondents with certain terms in research ethics and if guidelines exist to regulate-them. Participants were most familiar with COI and plagiarism (Figure 1A). However, their familiarity with other terms was less than 50%. Additionally, COI was on top of the list regarding participants' knowledge of existence of guidelines (62%), while approximately 50% of participants had knowledge that guidelines existed for other topics (Figure 1B).
The four point Likert-type scale questions were directed to assess the general KAP of the respondents (Table 2). The average percentage of correct answers to the 14 questions asked was 62%, and the percentage of correct answers for each question was as shown in Table 2. Chi-square analysis of respondents’ KAP did not detect any statistically significant association between answering correctly and the participants' gender or academic rank. However, results showed a statistically significant association between being in a specific school and answering correctly for a number of the KAP items (Table 2).
Figure 2A demonstrates respondents’ knowledge of RECs roles. A high percentage of respondents thought of REC as a committee to oversee the ethical aspects of research, and to protect the welfare of research subjects (94%, 80%, respectively). Nevertheless, two-third of participants thought of it as a committee to decide if there is a need for informed consent, and only 29% of participants thought an REC has the right to interfere with the scientific design of the study.
Responses to the question of who should be a member in RECs are displayed in Figure 2B. A high percentage thought a physician, an ethicist, and a nurse should be members of RECs (83%, 64%, and 58% respectively). On the other hand, approximately one third or less thought a layperson, a government official, or a philosopher are needed as members in RECs.
Data retention, ownership, and authorship
Almost three quarters (74 %, n = 102) retained documents for over three years, while less than 7% kept data for less than one year. Respondents also had the choice between sole or shared ownership of data. Approximately, 18% thought of students as a member or the sole owner of the data while 48%, 43%, and 12% thought of the Primary Investigator (PI) and collaborators, School or University, and funding agency, respectively, as members or sole owners of the data (Table 3).
Results revealed that 39% (n = 53) of respondents answered that as an author you need to be an active part of three processes in any research project; project design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Other respondents considered a single activity out of the three qualifies for authorship. Still others, considered further activities such as data collection and being the PI who obtained the funding qualify for an authorship. This indicates the lack of specific adopted guidance of authorship qualification. In addition, analysis found no association of the answers with the academic rank of the respondents.