Resources for research
Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, fifth edition (2024)
The fifth edition of 叠贰搁础鈥檚 Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research has been revised and updated to enable researchers to conduct their work to the highest ethical standards in any and all contexts.
Click here for an online version of the guidelines
The guidelines unequivocally recognise and celebrate the diversity of approaches in educational research, and promote respect for all those who engage with it: researchers and participants, academics and professional practitioners, commissioning bodies, and those who read and utilise the research. Without being prescriptive, they represent the tenets of best ethical practice that have served our community of researchers well in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
Published to mark 叠贰搁础鈥檚 50th anniversary in 2024, this fifth edition of the guidelines is designed to be clear and helpful to anyone undertaking educational research, including those new to the field. The revised guidelines acknowledge the Equality Act 2010 and the impact of structural inequalities throughout research, putting particular responsibility on researchers to guard against inadvertently compounding marginalisation. The updates recognise that all topics and groups have听a right to be considered researchable, but also emphasise that duty of care to one another is a responsibility for all researchers, especially towards the next generation of researchers. These guidelines emphasise researchers鈥 responsibilities not only to protect participants but also to promote their rights to participation, particularly marginalised and vulnerable groups, so maximising inclusivity. Crucially, and following 叠贰搁础鈥檚 wider work in this area, the updated guidelines acknowledge the role research can play in promoting environmental sustainability.
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Print copies
The online version of the guidelines is free for all 娇色导航 members and non-members to download at the link above.
娇色导航 members received a complimentary print copy of the guidelines with the summer 2024 issue of 叠贰搁础鈥檚 magazine Research Intelligence. Further print copies can be purchased by members and non-members for a fee of 拢10 per copy (including postage). or email [email protected] for bulk orders of more than 10 copies.
Research Ethics Case Studies
叠贰搁础鈥檚 Research Ethics Case Studies complement 叠贰搁础鈥檚 Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research, fifth edition (2024) by giving concrete examples of how those guidelines can be applied during the research process. The case studies feature annotations that indicate where, among the numbered paragraphs of 叠贰搁础鈥檚 Ethical Guidelines, readers can find full advice on the issues raised. Extended versions of the case studies feature in Ethical Dilemmas in Educational Research, published in 2026 in partnership between 娇色导航 and Bloomsbury. The five case studies are available open access on the 娇色导航 website and cover the following topics:
- Classroom observation for 鈥榠nsider鈥 teacher-researchers
- Frontlines of climate change education听
- Negotiating power, participation and dissent with young-researchers in community dissemination
- Watch your language: Ethical issues when working with young people听鈥 meaning and power
- The ethics of research involving artificial intelligence and education听
Three further case studies, developed alongside the fourth edition of the Ethical Guidelines, are also available on the following topics:
- Twitter, data collection and informed consent
- Researcher wellbeing and international fieldwork
- Anticipating the application and unintended consequences of practitioner research
Ethical Dilemmas in Educational Research
In 2026 娇色导航 published a book in collaboration with Bloomsbury, titled Ethical Dilemmas in Educational Research: 娇色导航 case studies for researchers by researchers. The book showcases a broad range of case studies to illustrate how education researchers have navigated ethical dilemmas in their decision-making when designing, conducting and reporting their research. A team of over 40 authors representing a range of perspectives and backgrounds collaborated on the content of this book, led by editors Alison Fox, Sally Baker, Nicole Brown, Matthew Courtney, Aimee Quickfall, Natalie Tegama and Sin Wang Chong. More details about the book and how to purchase a copy can be found here.
Translations
At the instigation of research associations in Brazil, Spain and Ukraine, 娇色导航 entered into a collaborative process of translation of the fourth edition of the guidelines (originally published in 2018) into Spanish, Portuguese and Ukrainian.
This process has been repeated for the updated fifth edition of the guidelines. Translations of the updated edition into Portuguese and Spanish can be downloaded free of charge at the links below. A Ukrainian version of the fifth edition is under discussion. 娇色导航 is open to approaches to help produce other translations from those who might find it helpful.
Clique aqui para uma vers茫o em portugu锚s das diretrizes
Haga clic aqu铆 para ver una versi贸n en espa帽ol de la gu铆a
The Ukrainian translation of the fourth edition can be downloaded free of charge at the link below.