Members
- Chair: Janine Jennings
- James DuBois
- John Gibbs
- Cheryl King
- Barton Palmer
- Michael Ross
- Timothy Trull
- Sangeeta Panicker
APA Staff Liaison
In keeping with its mission to facilitate the conduct of and training in scientifically and ethically responsible research involving humans, in 2015 the Committee on Human Research (CHR) focused its efforts on education, outreach, and regulatory issues.
Education and Outreach Initiatives
Research Ethics Columns
CHR members contributed articles for a column in the APA Monitor on Psychology on research ethics. Topics that were addressed included the ethics of collecting Social Security numbers of research participants for payment purposes (by member James DuBois, February 2015), issues in researching daily life with ambulatory assessment (by member Timothy Trull, April 2015), the ethics of removing a potentially beneficial treatment component in therapy (by David Barlow, June 2015), and informed consent (by member Barton Palmer, September 2015).
Data Sharing
The Committee revisited the Data Sharing Policy developed by the Publications and Communications Board (P&C) Replication and Data Sharing (RADS) Task Force. CHR discussed ethical and practical issues in sharing research data, identifying several critical areas that needed to be addressed. Chair Janine Jennings and member Michael Ross represented CHR on the data sharing working group that was convened by BSA to outline a plan of action for APA. Based on the discussions between BSA, CHR, and some CARE and P&C members during a retreat meeting focused on data sharing, which was held in conjunction with the fall 2014 consolidated meetings, the working group, with input from the represented governance groups, drafted a document entitled “Data Sharing: Principles and Considerations for Policy Development.” This document has been widely disseminated to federal agencies and sister organizations and was well-received. Additionally, member Michael Ross will co-write an article for a special issue of the American Psychologist.
Policy and Regulations
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
On Sept. 8, 2015, the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to amend the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (45 CFR 46, Subpart A), also known as the Common Rule, was published in the Federal Register by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The NPRM was a major focus of discussion at the CHR fall meeting, which contributed substantive input for the official response from APA.
Future Plans and Development of New Initiatives
CHR generated a list of potential initiatives for the Committee and began to prioritize them. The short list includes:
Learning Health Care System
The Committee discussed the research ethics implications of the impetus for organizing American health care as a Learning Health Care System. Member Barton Palmer gave a short presentation demonstrating how this concept is relevant to clinical psychology research, in which patient care becomes research. Members also discussed the relevance to comparative effectiveness studies for treatments. The Committee will track the issue as it evolves.
Advocating for Psychological Science
Members discussed issues of concern within the scope of psychological research, such as funding and grant writing reimbursement, reproducibility and replication studies in the face of diminishing research budgets, and informed consent used as a form of risk management. The Committee decided to maintain awareness of these issues and be ready to respond with a clear message to legislators, regulators, and agency staff, as necessary.
Research Misconduct
The Committee discussed the issue of misconduct in research, faulting the academic culture (publish or perish) and grant funding system as contributing to irresponsible and unethical conduct in research. In addition, the difficulty in obtaining expert reviewers for the peer review process, who can question misinterpretations of the data and provide the appropriate criticism, may contribute to research misconduct going undetected. Members suggested writing articles on ethical issues most commonly encountered by students and advisors in research settings.
Membership Changes
Janine Jennings, James DuBois, Cheryl King, Barton Palmer, and Michael Ross continued to serve on the Committee during 2015. John Gibbs and Timothy Trull joined the Committee in 2015. Drs. DuBois and King rotated off the Committee at the end of 2015, and were replaced by Cinnamon Bloss and Mary Cwik in 2016. Janine Jennings will serve an additional term, and the Committee elected her to serve as Chair in 2016.