1
G
LOBAL
E
THICAL
S
TANDARDS FOR
R
ESEARCH
This report, originally named “Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Research”, was first published in 1979 and is used in most national and many
international regulations for the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects in
research. It was adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and
incorporated into 45 CFR 46, the code of U.S. Federal Regulations for the protection of human
subjects in research.
This is the most recent 2013 revision of “World Medical Association Declaration of the Helsinki
Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects”. The ‘Declaration of Helsinki’ is a
code of ethics for clinical research that was first published in 1964 and is used in most national and
international regulations for the protections of the rights and welfare of human subjects.
This is a document created by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
(CIOMS) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). It was created to serve as a
guide (particularly for low-resource or developing countries) to use in defining policies on the
ethics of biomedical research, and for establishing mechanisms for review of research involving
human subjects. The latest version was published in 2002.
Created by the World Health Organization, this contains standards for research ethics review and
research ethics review committees. It also details researcher responsibilities.
This is a document was adopted in the 2005 General Conference of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It details principles and rules for
ensuring the benefits of medicine, science and technology, within the framework of respect for
human rights.
