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Navigating ethical challenges in online wildlife trade research
Thais Q Morcatty1,2,3, Shan Su4,5, Penthai Siriwat2
1Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK.
Summary
Online wildlife trade (OWT) research faces unique ethical challenges due to internet accessibility. This study provides recommendations for ethically responsible OWT research, addressing privacy, participant definition, and data sharing risks.
Area of Science:
- Ethical research conduct
- Online wildlife trade (OWT)
- Digital ethics
Background:
- Internet accessibility has transformed wildlife trade, creating new research avenues.
- Traditional ethical frameworks are insufficient for online research contexts.
- A lack of clear guidelines hinders ethically sound online wildlife trade (OWT) research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the ethical challenges in online wildlife trade (OWT) research.
- To propose recommendations for ethically responsible OWT research practices.
- To guide researchers, editors, and ethical review boards in this emerging field.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of ethical considerations in online research.
- Examination of existing guidelines from professional societies and ethical boards.
- Development of a set of recommendations based on synthesized information.
Main Results:
- Identified key ethical challenges: privacy violations, defining subjects/illegality, data misinterpretation, and participant risks.
- Proposed solutions: respecting privacy, clarifying participant roles, understanding legal/cultural contexts, minimizing data collection, anonymization, and metadata removal.
- Emphasized cultural sensitivity in data analysis and reporting.
Conclusions:
- Ethically responsible OWT research requires specific guidelines addressing online challenges.
- Adherence to proposed recommendations can mitigate risks and ensure scientific rigor.
- These guidelines will support the advancement of ethically sound OWT research.
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