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CHARTER

The International Charter for Ethical Research Involving Children is an aspirational statement of seven key commitments aimed at elevating the status, rights and well-being of all children involved in research. It has been written with and for researchers and others who are committed to children and to fulfilling their responsibility to undertake quality, ethical research, irrespective of context.

You can make a public commitment to upholding the principles of the ERIC Charter below.

You can download a pdf of the ERIC Charter in English, français, español, 한국어, Türkçe and Bahasa Indonesia.

International Charter for Ethical Research Involving Children

As a research community working with children, we are committed to undertaking and supporting high quality ethical research that is respectful of children’s human dignity, rights and wellbeing. The following seven commitments guide our work:

Ethics in research involving children is everyone’s responsibility

We, the research community, including all who participate in undertaking, commissioning, funding and reviewing research, are responsible for ensuring that the highest ethical standards are met in all research involving children, regardless of research approach, focus or context.

Respecting the dignity of children is core to ethical research

Ethical research is conducted with integrity and is respectful of children, their views and their cultures. Involving children respectfully requires that researchers recognise children’s status and evolving capacities and value their diverse contributions.

Research involving children must be just and equitable

Children involved in research are entitled to justice. This requires that all children are treated equally, the benefits and burdens of participating are distributed fairly, children are not unfairly excluded and that barriers to involvement based on discrimination are challenged.

Ethical research benefits children

Researchers must ensure that research maximizes benefits to children, individually and/or as a social group. The researcher bears primary responsibility for considering whether the research should be undertaken and for assessing whether research will benefit children, during and as a consequence of the research process.

Children should never be harmed by their participation in research

Researchers must work to prevent any potential risks of harm and assess whether the need to involve the individual child is justified.

Research must always obtain children’s informed and ongoing consent

Children’s consent must always be sought, alongside parental consent and any other requirements that are necessary for the research to proceed ethically. Consent needs to be based on a balanced and fair understanding of what is involved throughout and after the research process. Indications of children’s dissent or withdrawal must always be respected.

Ethical research requires ongoing reflection

Undertaking research involving children is important. Ethical research demands that researchers continually reflect on their practice, well beyond any formal ethical review requirements. It requires ongoing attention to the assumptions, values, beliefs and practices that influence the research process and impact on children.

Make a public commitment to upholding the principles of the Charter within your work by joining our list of signatories.

Your name will be displayed below as a show of your public commitment to ethical research involving children. Please allow 7 days to be published.

    I commit to upholding the principles of the Charter, both through my own practice and by advocating for others involved with research involving children to do the same.




    List of Inaugural Signatories…

    Journals

    Journal of Childhood, Education and Society

    Childhood

    Children and Society

    Barn – Research on children and childhood in the Nordic region

     

    Aotearoa/ New Zealand

    Paul Flanagan

    Fathimath Shiraani

    Eliza Raymond

    Megan Gollop

    Alexandra C. Gunn

    Sonya Gaches

    Miriam Mylvaganam

    Nicola Taylor

    Adika Cremet

    Jennifer Braithwaite

    Anna Carr

    Heike Schanzel

    Kirsten Hanna

    Mary Ann Powell

    Judith Loveridge

    Beverley Coombridge

    Tania Fu

     

    Belgium

    Kaat Verhaeghe

    Sara Lembrechts

    Kata Dozsa

     

    Belize

    Libby Martinez

     

    Brasil/ Brazil

    Ana Alice Esteves

    Tiago Madalozzo

    Lívia Dias

    Carolina Terra

     

    Denmark

    Jon Eilenberg

     

    Ecuador 

    Ródyka Enríquez

     

    Egypt

    Essam Ali

     

    Eswatini 

    Michelle Brear

     

    Finland

    Kwok Ng

     

    France

    Adem Arkadas-Thibert

    Lauren Stephens

    Karima Gacem

    The CYRA Service

    Fabienne Hejoaka

    Claire O’Kane

     

    French Polynesia

    Julia Truscott

     

    India

    Priti Joshi

    Devina Sarwatay

    Rashmi Rangarajan

    Ronald Yesudhas

    Abdul Azeez E P

    Santanu Tripathi

     

    Indonesia

    Suparman Samsidi

     

    Iran

    Hamidreza Vasheghanifarahani

     

    Ireland

    Cadhla O’Sullivan

    Katie McQuillan

    Geraldine Scanlon

    Aideen Howard

    Robbie Gilligan

    Harry Shier

    Ronan Healy

    Jane Hession

    Colette Saunders

    Aoife Daly

     

    Italy

    Valentina Pagani

    Caterina Arciprete

     

    Myanmar

    Myo Myint Htun

     

    Uganda

    Nangiro Benjamin

     

    United States of America

    Katherine Lapham

    Kelli Henry

    John Wall

    Kirsten Pontalti

    Jodi Jakylovich

    Michael Archambault

    Australia

    Stefania Velardo

    Kate Neale

    Meaghan Vosz

    Tess Boyle

    Antonia Canosa

    Anne Graham

    Sophie Wright-Pedersen

    Menka Tsantefski

    Kathryn Seymour

    Kerry Smith

    Prue Atkins

    Centre for Children and Young People

    Digability

    Sharon Bessell

    Tim Moore

    Redkite

    Meg Chin

    Ann Munene

    Elena Coulls

    Lynne McPherson

    Stella Conroy

    Sue Dockett

    Anita Morris

    Emma Esdaile

    Vicki Christopher

    Lisa Stafford

    Georgia Middleton

    Brittany Johnson

    Karen Murcia

    Kelly Baird

     

    Chile

    Irene Amalia Salvo Agoglia

    Camilo Morales Retamal

    Iskra Pavez Soto

     

    Colombia

    María Claudia Duque-Páramo

    Luz Teresila Barona Villamizar

    Ornella Barros

    Nataly Restrepo restrepo

     

    Cyprus

    Spyros Spyrou

    Eda Yazgin

     

    Deutschland/ Germany

    Franziska Fay

    Auxilia Silva Dos Santos

    Thorsten Trede

     

    Greece

    Sofia Tsioli

    Eleni Mousena

     

    Nambia

    Aggrey Kayabu Makendano

     

    Netherlands

    Özlemnur Ataol

    Karin Arts

    Kitty Jurrius

     

    Nigeria

    Jamiu Temitope Sulaimon

    Ewajesu Opeyemi Okewumi

     

    Norway

    Tatek Abebe

    Tanu Biswas

    Marit Ursin

    Changefactory Knowledge Centre

     

    United Kingdom

    Chloe Barber

    Claudia Bernard

    Andres Almario

    Laura Benton

    Grace Spencer

    Helen Stalford

    Andrew Nason Williams

    Bec Buss

    Stephen Thompson

    Elisabeth Barratt Hacking

    Tina Segota

    Rio Jones

    Anita Franklin

    Nigel Patrick Thomas

    Lynne Gilmour

    Aidan Burns

    Alice Little

    Karen Boardman

    Alice König

    The Visualising War and Peace Project

    Donna Thomas

    Julia Clifford

    Marlies Kustatscher

    Lorraine Radford

    Emily Barker

    Gillian O’Dempsey

    Louca-Mai Brady

    Katherine Cartmell

    Sarah Crafter

    Yuwei Xu (and China)

    Helen Lomax

    Margaret Hills de Zarate

    Deirdre Leyden

    Lisa Bell

    Julia Hayes

    Eirini Gkouskou

    Rachel Lambie

    Ashley Woodfall

    Tara Paxman

    Vanessa Bennett

    Jools Page

    Austria/ Österreich

    Christian Andersen

     

    Argentina

    Sebastián Javier Lipina

     

    Canada

    Monica Ruiz-Casares

    Sara Austin

    Rachel Berman

    Janelle Brady

    Christine Gervais

    Tara M. Collins

    Franco Carnevale

    Daniella Bendo

    Donna Koller

    Proteknôn Foundation for Innovation and Learning

    Laurel Donison

    Azam Dashti Khavidaki

    Lisa Wolff

    Aurelia Di Santo

    Vanessa Zufelt

    Christa Leeder

    j wallace skelton

    Danielle Dionne

    Kristen Cheney

    Children’s Design International Collection

     

    Malta

    Josephine Deguara

     

    Mexico

    Karina Patricia Franco Rodríguez

    Yolanda Corona

    Norma Del Rio

     

    Pakistan

    Azza Warraitch

    Narooz Akhtar

     

    Perú

    Carlos Javier Rodriguez Cuellar

    Nicolle Valverde Ronceros

     

    Portugal

    Ana Isabel Lemos do Carmo Pereira

    Manuel Jacinto SarmentoAMF

    Marlene Barra

    Ana Cristina Dias Pinheiro

    Ana Costa

     

    Romania

    Maria-Carmen Pantea

     

    Rwanda

    Proteknôn Foundation (and USA)

     

    Scotland

    Kate Wall

    Stacey Marko

     

    Spain/ España

    Aida Urrea-Monclus

    Noemi Pereda

    Begonya Nafria

    Marta Martínez Muñoz

    Virginia Murillo  (and Costa Rica)

    Maria Josep Corominas

    Laia Pineda Rüegg

    Institut Infància i Adolescència de Barcelona

    Patricia Núñez Gòmez

    Araceli Lázaro Aparicio

    Iván Rodríguez-Pascual

    Myriam Fernández Nevado

    Marta Muñoz Soriano

    Justina de Pablo

    Maribel Illescas Taboada

    Lourdes Gaitán

    Javier Guzmán Sánchez

    Ana Maria Novella Cámara

    Juan Peris-Mencheta Barrio

     

    South Africa

    Tamlynn Jefferis

    Lucie Cluver (and UK)

    Joan van Niekerk

    Alecia Samuels

    Lucy Jamieson

    Deevia Bhana

    Norma Ruth Arlene Romm

     

    Sverige/ Sweden 

    Fatemeh Yazdani

    Linnea Bodén

    Hussain Karim

     

    Tanzania

    Kate McAlpine

    Zidane Abdallah

    Raphael Denis

     

    Türkiye

    Aslıhan Öztezel

    Seda Basok

    Mehmet Toran

    Ayşe Yılmaz