Research Ethics Involving Human Participants

The journal Bulletin of Humanities adheres to international standards for the ethical conduct of research involving human participants. This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to the journal that contain the results of research in which human participants were the objects or subjects of scholarly investigation.

1. Scope of Application

This policy applies to research involving:

  • surveys, questionnaires, and interviews;
  • focus groups and group discussions;
  • fieldwork in the areas of oral history, sociolinguistics, cultural anthropology, and related disciplines;
  • analysis of personal data, including data pertaining to informants, respondents, and participants in linguistic and cultural research;
  • observation of participants' behaviour in controlled or natural settings;
  • collection of psychological, biographical, or sociocultural data in the context of humanities research;
  • use of materials obtained from vulnerable population groups (refugees, internally displaced persons, minors, persons with disabilities, military personnel and veterans, speakers of endangered languages).

The policy does not apply to research based exclusively on the analysis of published texts, archival documents in the public domain, publicly available language corpora, or other open scholarly sources that do not involve human participants.

2. Core Principles

The journal is guided by the following principles of ethical research conduct:

Respect for participant autonomy. Every research participant has the right to voluntary and informed participation, as well as the right to withdraw from participation at any stage without negative consequences.

Minimisation of risks. Research must be designed in such a way as to minimise any risks of a psychological, social, cultural, or reputational nature for participants.

Confidentiality. The personal data of participants must be protected. Research results must be presented in a form that makes it impossible to identify individual participants, unless otherwise provided for by their explicit consent.

Fairness. The selection of participants must be justified and equitable. Research must not disproportionately burden vulnerable population groups or marginalised communities.

Integrity. Research results must accurately reflect the actual course of events, without fabrication, falsification, or selective presentation of data. The interpretation of participants' materials must be accurate and respectful of their cultural and personal identity.

3. Informed Consent

Informed consent from participants is required for all research involving human participants. Informed consent presupposes that participants:

  • have received clear and complete information about the purpose, procedure, duration, and possible risks of the research;
  • have been informed about how their data and statements will be used, stored, and published;
  • have had the opportunity to ask questions before the research begins;
  • have provided consent voluntarily, without coercion, pressure, or manipulation;
  • have been informed of their right to withdraw consent at any stage.

For research using online surveys, informed consent may be obtained in electronic form (for example, through a mandatory confirmation on the first page of the questionnaire).

For research involving vulnerable population groups, additional precautionary measures must be observed in accordance with national and international legislation.

The journal does not require the submission of copies of informed consent forms; however, authors must confirm that consent was obtained and must retain the relevant documentation in case of a request from the editorial office.

4. Ethics Approval

Research involving human participants must be approved by the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) prior to data collection.

In the manuscript, authors must state:

  • the name of the ethics committee that granted approval;
  • the number and date of the ethics approval decision;
  • confirmation that all participants provided informed consent.

If the research did not require ethics approval (for example, analysis of publicly available texts or a voluntary anonymous online survey with minimal risk), authors must include in the manuscript an appropriate justification stating the reasons why ethics approval was not required.

Example statement where approval was obtained: "The research was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of [name of institution] (Protocol No. [number] dated [date]). All participants provided written informed consent to participate in the research and to the publication of the materials obtained."

Example statement where approval was not required: "This research is based on a voluntary anonymous online survey with minimal risk to participants. In accordance with the institutional requirements of [name of institution], ethics approval is not mandatory for this type of research. All respondents confirmed their consent to participate prior to completing the questionnaire."

5. Protection of Personal Data

Authors are required to comply with the requirements of national and international legislation on the protection of personal data, in particular:

  • the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data" (No. 2297-VI dated 01 June 2010);
  • the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR) — for research involving citizens of EU member states or conducted on the territory of the EU.

Manuscripts must not contain data that would allow the identification of individual participants (surnames, contact details, precise addresses, photographs), unless the participant has provided explicit written consent to the publication of such information. Particular attention is given to protecting the identity of informants in fieldwork and oral history research.

6. Research Involving Vulnerable Groups

Research involving vulnerable population groups (minors, refugees, internally displaced persons, military personnel and veterans, persons with disabilities, persons in places of deprivation of liberty, speakers of endangered languages) requires heightened attention to:

  • obtaining informed consent from legal representatives (in the case of minors);
  • ensuring the voluntary nature of participation without any pressure from institutions or researchers;
  • anonymisation of data at all stages of research and publication;
  • taking into account the potential risks of re-traumatisation (for persons who have experienced armed conflict, violence, or displacement);
  • respectful treatment of the cultural, linguistic, and identity-related characteristics of participants.

The editorial board reserves the right to request additional clarification from authors regarding compliance with ethical standards in research involving vulnerable groups.

7. Role of the Editorial Board

The editorial board of the journal:

  • verifies the presence of ethics approval and an informed consent statement in all manuscripts containing research involving human participants;
  • may request additional documentation from authors regarding compliance with ethical standards;
  • reserves the right to reject a manuscript if the research was conducted in violation of ethical norms;
  • reserves the right to initiate the retraction of a published article in the event that research ethics violations are identified after publication, in accordance with the journal's Retraction Policy.