Evaluating institutional capacity for research ethics in Africa: a case study from Botswana

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Research Ethics
• Capacity Building

Background:

• Growing research in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) necessitates robust ethical oversight.
• Existing capacity-building programs often focus on individuals or committees, not institutions.
• A need exists for comprehensive institutional assessment frameworks in research ethics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel approach for assessing institutional research ethics capacity.
• To apply this approach through a case study in an African institution.
• To identify specific areas for strengthening research ethics at the institutional level.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of the Octagon model for evaluating eight domains of research ethics.
• Utilized a mixed-methods approach for data collection.
• Conducted an empirical assessment at the University of Botswana.

Main Results:

• The University of Botswana demonstrates strengths in structure, relevance, production, and identity.
• Areas identified for improvement include financial systems, target group engagement, and the national context.
• Discrepancies between internal and external evaluations offer insights for targeted development.

Conclusions:

• A gap exists in frameworks for evaluating research ethics capacity in LMICs.
• The presented approach integrates internal and external perspectives for holistic assessment.
• The case study illustrates progress and highlights key areas for enhancing institutional research ethics capacity in LMICs.