Giving consent without getting informed: a cross-cultural issue in research ethics

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Social Sciences
• Psychology

Background:

• Informed consent forms (ICFs) are crucial for upholding research ethics and protecting participant rights.
• Ensuring participants comprehend ICFs is vital for the validity of ethical research practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether university students thoroughly read ICFs before participating in online surveys.
• To examine the association between the time spent reading ICFs and the completeness of the collected data.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 2,534 private university students in Lebanon regarding sexuality and sexual practices.
• Data collected included the time participants spent reading the 815-word ICF and their consent status.

Main Results:

• The median time to read the ICF was 18.66 seconds.
• 65% of participants consented within 30 seconds, and 90% did so in under 2.7 minutes (the predicted minimum time).

Conclusions:

• The rapid completion times suggest potential participant neglect of ICFs.
• This raises significant questions about whether participants providing consent are genuinely informed about study objectives and their rights.