Created by the U.S. National Commission for
the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research,
the Belmont Report (1979) is a statement of ethical principles for the
protection of human subjects in research. The report was prompted by
evidence* of post-WWII medical and scientific misconduct in human subjects
studies in Europe and the United States.
The Belmont Report continues
today as the framework for the policies and procedures of institutional
review boards across the Western world that review human subjects research
*for example, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972),
experiments at Willowbrook State School in New York (1950s-1970s), Stanley
Milgram’s obedience to authority studies (1960s), Laud Humphreys’
“tearoom” research (1966-7)
Source: Israel, M. and I.
Hay. 2006. Research Ethics for Social Scientists. London; Thousand Oaks,
to see the full report.