Participants of a recent research congress on language and literature convened at the Center for the Performing Arts of USJ-R. /contributed photo
The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) is spearheading a weeklong training that will spread awareness on the importance of observing ethical practices while doing research.
The ethical research practices training, slated from Jan. 30 to Feb. 4, will be handled by foreign advocates of ethical research practices Dr. Darryl Raymund Johnson Macer of American University of Sovereign Nations (AUSN) and Dr. John Weckert of Australian multi-campus school Charles Sturt University.
“This training will enable people to understand the functions of the Ethics Review Board and how to employ the principles of ethical research practices in quantitative or qualitative research methods especially those that have humans, animals or plants for subjects,” said Roberto Cabardo.
Cabardo, who is also the managing editor of the university’s Recoletos Research Journal, added, “It will help us implement safeguards so that we won’t violate laws and commit cruelty against animals.”
Dr. Macer, who is also the president and a professor of bioethics and biomedical sciences at AUSN, will lecture on the importance of having an Ethics Review Board and its functions, and how one can observe ethical practices in research from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1.
Dr. Weckert, for his part, will facilitate discussions on practicing ethical researches that deal with technology on Feb. 3–4. Dr. Weckert is a professor emeritus of Charles Sturt University in Australia.
In December 2015, USJ-R partnered with the Association of Government Information Officers in Central Visayas (AGIO-7) to become members of the Ethics Review Board of the University’s Center for Policy, Research and Development Studies (CPRDS).
AGIO-7 is an organization of public information officers of over 30 different national government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).
With the partnership in place, ethical and legal questions of the research protocol involving human and animal subjects and related fields will be ably addressed since AGIO-7 members are middle managers trained for the task.
CPRDS took the initiative after a teacher and students of an institution of higher learning based in Cebu faced criminal complaint filed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for violation of RA 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.
Dr. Eddie Llamedo, president of AGIO-7 and the information officer of DENR, said the biology students and their teacher are facing serious raps at the Department of Justice after killing an animal endemic to Cebu as part of their study.
The six-day training will be held at the university’s Center for the Performing Arts in the main campus on Magallanes Street and the Talavera House of Prayer in Barangay Quiot, Cebu City.
Cabardo said participating researchers from all over the country are expected in the weeklong training.
For further inquiries, call the university’s CPRDS at 253-7900 local 243244 or e-mail at research@usjr.edu.ph. /contributor Ioannes P. Arong