Covid-19 has affected different areas of society (health, political, social, economic, educational, etc.). In this context, scientific research appears as a source of possible solutions that help to face the problem, prevent its spread or favor a cure. The demand of the situation implies the carrying out of investigations at an accelerated rate. This implies an additional challenge to carry out the studies efficiently (in time and resources), but without neglecting the ethical standards of research with human beings. We offer a reading list that, in addition to this toolkit, can be useful to face ethical challenges in the context of the crisis by Covid-19:
Bonhoeffe et al. (2013). Template protocol for clinical trials investigating vaccines- Focus on safety elements. Vaccine, 31(47), 5602–5620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.02.041
British Medical Association (2020b). COVID-19: FAQs about ethics. Extracted from https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/ethics/covid-19-faqs-about-ethics
British Medical Association (2020b). COVID-19 – ethical issues. A guidance note. Extracted from https://www.bma.org.uk/media/2360/bma-covid-19-ethics-guidance-april-2020.pdf
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., y Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
Chiumento, A., Rahman, A., Frith, L., Snider, L., y Tol, W. A. (2017). Ethical standards for mental health and psychosocial support research in emergencies: review of literature and current debates. Globalization and Health, 13(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-017-0231-y
Calia, C., Reid, C., Guerra, C., Oshodi, A., Marley, C., Amos, A., Barrera, P., & Grant, L. (2020). Ethical challenges in the COVID-19 research context: a toolkit for supporting analysis and resolution. Ethics & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2020.1800469
Dalton, L., Rapa, E., & Stein,A. (2020). Protecting the psychological health of children through effective communication about COVID-19. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30097-3.
Weinfurt, K., et al., (2008). Expectations of Benefit in Early-Phase Clinical Trials: Implications for Assessing the Adequacy of Informed Consent. Medical Decision Making, 28(4), 575–581. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X08315242
Frontiers (2020). Coronavirus Funding Monitor. Extracted from https://coronavirus.frontiersin.org/covid-19-research-funding-monitor
Inchausti, F., MacBeth, A., Hasson-Ohayon, I., & Dimaggio, G. (2020). Psychological interventions and the Covid-19 pandemic. Psyarxiv preprint https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8svfa
Kupferschmidt, K. & Cohen, J. (2020). Race to find COVID-19 treatments accelerates. Science 367 (6485), 1412-1413. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.367.6485.1412
Mormina, M., Horn, R., Hallowell, N., Musesengwa, R., Lingou, S., & Nguyen, J. (2020). Research during humanitarian emergencies: Ethics best practice. Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, University of Oxford.
McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2020). If the world fails to protect the economy, COVID-19 will damage health not just now but also in the future. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0863-y
Legido-Quigley, H., Mateos-García, J. T., Campos, V. R., Gea-Sánchez, M., Muntaner, C., y McKee, M. (2020). The resilience of the Spanish health system against the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30060-8
Li, Q., Guan, X., Wu, P., Wang, X., Zhou, L., Tong, Y., … Feng, Z. (2020). Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316
Reid, C., Calia, C., Guerra, C. & Grant, L. (2019). Ethical Action in Global Research: A Toolkit. The University of Edinburgh. Available at: www.ethical-global-research.ed.ac.uk
UK Government (2013, 2017). Guidance: Pandemic Flu, ethical framework. Recovered from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pandemic-flu#ethical-framework
United Nations (2020). COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan. Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/news/covid-19-global-humanitarian-response-plan
WHO (2020a). Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports, Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/
WHO (2020b). Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications-detail/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak
WHO (2020c). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance: The Unity Studies: Early Investigations Protocols. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/early-investigations
WHO (2020d). Ethical standards for research during public health emergencies: Distilling existing guidance to support COVID-19 R&D. Extracted from https://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/key-action/liverecovery-save-of-ethical-standards-for-research-during-public-health-emergencies.pdf?ua=1