Do research rules restore trust?
Kerasidou argues that consent and ethics-committee rules make research more reliable, but restoring trust also requires trustworthiness and goodwill toward the vulnerable.
Source
Trust me, I'm a researcher!: The role of trust in biomedical research
What they did
The paper reviews the trust-restoration story after research scandals, O’Neill’s scepticism that ‘loss of trust’ matches behaviour, and Baier-style analyses that separate trust from reliance. It then applies that distinction to biomedical research governance.
What they found
Trust is a decisive factor in participation. Reliance predicts behaviour; trust assumes goodwill toward vulnerability. Regulation can even signal untrustworthiness. If institutions want trust back, they need ethics education, dedicated teams, and stakeholder engagement, not only compliance systems.
The limits
What it doesn't show
This is conceptual, not a new survey of participants. O’Neill’s behavioural argument is cited, not retested. It does not specify a metric for trustworthiness.
Key terms
- Trust
- A stance that assumes the other’s goodwill toward one’s vulnerability, not mere prediction of behaviour.
- Reliance
- Depending on someone because you can predict what they will do.
- Trustworthiness
- Traits of the trustee that make trust apt, including goodwill.
- Reliability
- Rule-governed predictability; IRBs can raise this without making research trustworthy.
Flashcards
Research intelligence for this paper
See its role on concept claims, tensions it is part of, placement history, and related discoveries.
Quiz yourself
IRBs mainly raise?
Common questions
Did IRBs solve the trust problem?
They raised reliability; the paper says they had little effect on trustworthiness and can even hurt trust.
What does O’Neill doubt?
That reports of lost trust match how people actually behave, given research volume has risen.
What should institutions add?
Ethical conduct, ethics teams, and engagement that shows the social value of research.
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