The tl;dr: 

Ethical review goes beyond mere compliance; it makes your project more credible, marketable to clients, and facilitates responsible practice within your community.

Introduction

Ethical review has traditionally been perceived as an exercise in compliance. Of course, there is truth to this, since ethical review first and foremost is about ensuring that research and evaluations are conducted in a way that minimises the risks of harm to stakeholders. In itself this is not a bad thing as it is vital to protect communities.

But there's much more to ethical review than this. It's a way to strengthen projects, build capacity, and develop trust with stakeholders. 

Moreover, the problem with a compliance focus is that it can create a perception that ethical review is a burden, and we know from behavioural science that people tend to avoid burdens. And in many ways, that is what has played out. To quote one of our other resources:

For a long time in the evaluation, market research and social research space, the decision on whether to undertake ethical review was often seen as binary. Either it went before a full [Human Research Ethics Committee], or it was deemed exempt.

All too often, rightly or wrongly, it was the latter.

Ethical review is something that by default should be integrated into project designs. In practice you match the level of review to reflect the project, the stakeholders and the methods used. It's why we offer four different types of ethical review process that scale in line with the scope of work*. It's also why we've set our system up to make getting ethical review, whatever the level, as easy as possible.

In that way we've committed to reducing the friction in the process. But it's also important to look at the many other reasons why ethical review is valuable. So here are five reasons for getting ethical review that you might not have thought of.

1. Align with the needs of your clients and their stakeholders

If you're a consultant or research provider, it's standard practice to think about your client needs and to meet them. It's a similar situation inside government agencies, where getting sign-off means understanding the priorities and concerns of those in authority. We know that for your clients, their HR, CSR/ESG, and DEI teams increasingly demand ethical validation for research involving employees, consumers, or communities. We also know that this demand is coming from the executive and from boards that want to ensure that operational and reputational risks are proactively addressed. 

Integrating some form of ethical approval demonstrates due diligence on your part, and meets the needs of decision-makers in your and your clients' organisations. It can also facilitate faster approval from these decision-makers by pre-emptively answering questions they have around managing risks. That can save a lot of time in the long run.

2. Boost credibility of your projects

Undergoing formal ethical consideration significantly enhances stakeholder perceptions of your research and evaluation. It adds a layer of credibility to your work, demonstrating that it meets high standards and respects participants. For market researchers, this makes you more attractive to clients seeking reputable insights, especially alongside other forms of certification such as ISO 20252. For evaluators and social researchers, it provides assurance to clients and communities alike that you have their best interests at heart.

3. Increase client and stakeholder engagement

The presence of independent ethical review builds trust with stakeholders, and that can also lead to higher rates of participant engagement, which in turn can lead to richer insights. When a potential participant knows that a project has had ethical review, they can trust that their needs have been considered and that their participation is meaningful and will be respected. That encourages the high quality, honest engagement that is vital to delivering value.

Presenting a project which has received ethical review also gives your clients upfront confidence regarding the validity of insights. This is because ethical review principles such as merit consider the appropriateness and effectiveness of methods as well as the analytical approach used. This helps to ensure that research and evaluation questions can be answered confidently through high quality data collection. 

4. Embed ethical integrity as a core value in your organisation

While the immediate client is one stakeholder, research and evaluation inherently involve interacting with a range of stakeholders. This means that your organisation and its values are on display. Ethical oversight helps to reinforce values around integrity, respect for human dignity, and social betterment. The ongoing integration of ethical review as part of projects helps to make ethical integrity a core value.

5. Gain a sustainable competitive edge

It might seem odd to link ethical review with corporate strategy, especially given that perceptions of corporate strategy have been shaped by the notion of prioritising shareholder value. But shareholders have understood and continue to understand that sustainable financial performance is intertwined with doing right by customers and their communities. To this end, research and evaluation guided by strong ethical principles is increasingly expected, and formal review provides tangible proof that your work operates at the highest standards. 

Whether you're a government agency, non-profit, commercial enterprise, research firm or consultancy, integrating ethical review is a strategic advantage. It's more than a PR exercise; it's becoming a baseline expectation, and pursuing it can differentiate you from the market and build long-term success.

Summary 

We've presented five reasons above that you might not have thought about when considering why ethical review might benefit your, or your clients' research and evaluation projects. We also think they're helpful points for responding to briefs and requests for quote, so feel free to use them. 

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons to consider ethical review. In the meantime, if you're wondering which level of ethical review is right for you, or how you can integrate ethical review into your projects, feel free to get in touch. We're more than happy to help.

*While a Statement of Exemption does exempt a project from a full or lower risk ethical review, there is still a process of assessment to ensure that the project meets the criteria for exemption. For that reason we consider it to be a review process.