An ethics perspective on responsibilities of investigators, sponsors and research participants

The major international guidelines for health research have come a long way in setting standards and providing direction on acceptable practices for the conduct of research. However, the responsibilities of the key players have generally been addressed in a rather uncoordinated manner, and there still remain gaps in addressing the responsibilities of some of the key players in the research setting. This paper is a review of crosscutting guidelines and mix of the key responsibilities of investigators, sponsors, study participants together with their communities. Some new responsibilities for the participants and research institutions have be suggested based on understanding and practical experience as they are not described in any traditional literature.