The Belmont Report identifies three basic ethical principles upon which the federal standards for research in the United States are based. These are " Respect ," " Beneficence ," and " Justice ." Related to each of these ethical principles are practical applications: "Informed Consent," "Risk-Benefit Assessment," and "Subject Selection," respectively. In this tutorial we will concentrate on the ethical principles themselves.
California State University, Long Beach, accepted the principles of the Belmont Report when it first accepted federal funding for human subjects research. The campus provided the National Institutes of Health with an Assurance that all human subjects research would be conducted on these principles. To carry out this Assurance, the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects was created.
From time to time there may be disagreements on this or other campus about what is the best way to protect human subjects. The principles and the detailed explanations of them that have evolved over time remain the best source and basis for practical deliberations.
There may be a tendency over time to emphasize one of the ethical principles over the others. This is partly a result of the differences among the practical consequences of the principles. In fact, however, each of the principles must be given equal attention and compliance.
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