Research Ethics Involving Human Participants

The journal "Pedagogical Academy: Scientific Notes" 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 results of studies in which human participants served as objects or subjects of scientific research.

Pedagogical research by its nature predominantly involves interaction with people — pupils, students, teachers, parents, and educational institution administrators. This places a special responsibility on researchers to observe ethical principles at all stages of their scholarly work.

1. Scope

This policy applies to research involving:

— surveys, questionnaires, and interviews with pupils, students, educators, parents, and other participants of the educational process; — focus groups and group discussions in educational settings;

— pedagogical experiments (formative, diagnostic, control) in educational institutions;

— observation of participant behavior in learning and extracurricular settings;

— analysis of personal data of pupils, students, and educators, including academic achievement records;

— testing of pedagogical methods, technologies, programs, and learning materials on participants of the educational process;

— collection of data on physical development, health status, and motor activity (in the context of physical education and sports research);

— research involving vulnerable groups: preschool and primary school children, pupils with special educational needs, children with disabilities, orphans, internally displaced children, children from military families.

This policy does not apply to research based exclusively on the analysis of publicly available aggregated statistical data, open educational registers, regulatory documents, or published scholarly sources without the involvement of human participants.

2. Core Principles

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

Respect for participant autonomy. Every research participant has the right to voluntary and informed participation, as well as the right to withdraw at any stage without negative consequences. In the context of educational research, this means that a pupil's or student's refusal to participate must not affect the assessment of their academic achievements or the attitude of educators.

Best interests of the child. In research involving minors, the best interests of the child take priority in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. No research may be conducted if it conflicts with the interests, safety, or well-being of the child.

Minimization of risks. Research must be designed to minimize any physical, psychological, social, or academic risks to participants. Pedagogical experiments must not negatively affect the quality of the educational process for participants in control and experimental groups.

Confidentiality. Participants' personal data must be protected. Research results must be presented in a form that prevents identification of individual participants — pupils, students, educators, educational institutions — unless explicit consent has been provided.

Justice. Participant selection must be justified and fair. Research must not disproportionately burden vulnerable groups of educational process participants.

Integrity. Research results must accurately reflect the actual course of events without fabrication, falsification, or selective data presentation.

3. Informed Consent

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

— received clear and complete information about the purpose, procedure, duration, and potential risks of the research;

— were informed about how their data will be used and stored;

— had the opportunity to ask questions before the start of the research;

— gave consent voluntarily, without coercion, pressure, or manipulation;

— were informed of their right to withdraw consent at any stage.

Special considerations for pedagogical research:

For research involving minors (persons under 18 years of age), written informed consent from parents or legal guardians is mandatory. Additionally, the researcher should obtain the child's own agreement (assent) in a form appropriate to their age and maturity. The child should be informed about the research in language they can understand and has the right to refuse participation regardless of the parents' decision.

For research involving students of higher education institutions (adults), informed consent is obtained directly from the participant. Special attention should be paid to ensuring voluntary participation in cases where the researcher is simultaneously the participant's instructor.

For research using online surveys, informed consent may be obtained electronically (e.g., mandatory confirmation on the first page of the questionnaire).

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

4. Ethical Approval

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

In the manuscript, authors should indicate:

— the name of the ethics committee that granted approval;

— the number and date of the ethical approval decision; — confirmation that all participants (or their legal representatives) provided informed consent.

If the research did not require ethical approval (e.g., analysis of anonymous aggregated data, retrospective analysis of curricula, or voluntary anonymous online survey with minimal risk), authors must include an appropriate justification in the manuscript stating the reasons why ethical approval was not required.

Example statement with approval: "This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of [institution name] (protocol No. [number] dated [date]). Parents (legal representatives) of all minor participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study. Pupils were informed about the study in an age-appropriate manner and provided verbal assent to participate."

Example statement without approval: "This study is based on an anonymous voluntary online survey of educators with minimal risk to participants. In accordance with the institutional requirements of [institution name], ethical approval is not mandatory for this type of research. All respondents confirmed their consent to participate before completing the questionnaire."

5. Protection of Personal Data

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

— the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data" (No. 2297-VI dated 01.06.2010);

— the Law of Ukraine "On Education" (regarding the protection of the rights of education seekers);

— the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

— the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR) — for research involving EU citizens or conducted within the EU.

Manuscripts must not contain data that allows identification of individual participants (names of pupils, students, educators, specific school or class names, photographs) unless the participant (or their legal representative) has provided explicit consent for the publication of such information.

Special attention should be paid to anonymizing pupil data when describing results of pedagogical experiments. The use of coding (Pupil A, Pupil B; School 1, School 2) instead of real identifiers is recommended.

6. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable populations requires heightened attention to ethical standards. Vulnerable groups in the context of pedagogical research include:

— preschool and primary school children;

— pupils with special educational needs;

— children with disabilities;

— orphans and children deprived of parental care;

— internally displaced children and children from refugee families;

— children from families of military personnel, veterans, and fallen defenders;

— pupils and students who are in a dependent relationship with the researcher (pupil–teacher, student–instructor).

Such research requires:

— obtaining informed consent from legal representatives;

— ensuring voluntariness of participation without any institutional pressure;

— anonymization of data at all stages of research and publication;

— consideration of potential risks of re-traumatization (for children who have experienced military conflict, loss, or violence);

— ensuring the presence of a psychologist or other specialist during data collection when working with traumatized children.

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

7. Ethics of Physical Education and Sports Research

Given that the journal publishes research under specialty A7 — Physical Education and Sports, special attention is paid to the ethics of research involving physical activity of participants:

— research involving physical exertion, testing of physical qualities, or measurement of physiological indicators must be approved by the relevant ethics committee;

— participants must be informed about the nature and intensity of physical exertion;

— for minor participants, medical clearance for physical activity is mandatory;

— the researcher is obligated to ensure safe experimental conditions and immediate cessation if a threat to the participant's health arises;

— data on health status, injuries, and anthropometric indicators of participants are confidential and subject to anonymization.

8. Role of the Editorial Board

The editorial board of the journal:

— verifies the presence of ethical approval and informed consent statements 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 retraction of a published article if research ethics violations are discovered after publication, in accordance with the journal's Retraction Policy.

9. Regulatory Framework

This policy has been developed with reference to:

— World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (revised 2024); — UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; — COPE Position Statement: Studies Requiring Ethics Approval; — ICMJE Recommendations: Protection of Research Participants; — APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (regarding educational research); — Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data"; — Law of Ukraine "On Education"; — General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR).