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 the responsibility to undertake quality, ethical research, irrespective of context.

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:

• Keywords: ethical standards, child participation, transparency, responsible research

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.

 

• Keywords: ethical standards, child participation, transparency, responsible research

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.

• Keywords: ethical standards, child participation, transparency, responsible research

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.
Child Ethics CHARTER

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.

Child Ethics CHARTER

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.
Child Ethics CHARTER

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.
Child Ethics CHARTER

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

Kate McAnelly

Dean Sutherland

Rikki Soliman

Belgium

Kaat Verhaeghe

Sara Lembrechts

Kata Dozsa

Kaat Overmeire

Belize

Libby Martinez

Brasil/ Brazil

Ana Alice Esteves

Tiago Madalozzo

Lívia Dias

Carolina Terra

Denmark

Jon Eilenberg

Pernille Juhl

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

Julie Chapeau

French Polynesia

Julia Truscott

India

Priti Joshi

Devina Sarwatay

Rashmi Rangarajan

Ronald Yesudhas

Abdul Azeez E P

Santanu Tripathi

Sonal Soni

Diti Pundrik Vyas

Nidhi Vyas

Stanzin Dothon

Heeya Kapadia

Archee Chokshi

Indonesia

Suparman Samsidi

Nur Atik

Harla Sara Octarra

Michelle Andrina

Iran

Hamidreza Vasheghanifarahani

Ireland

Cadhla Fiona O’Sullivan

Katie McQuillan

Geraldine Scanlon

Aideen Howard

Robbie Gilligan

Harry Shier

Ronan Healy

Jane Hession

Colette Saunders

Aoife Daly

Early Childhood Ireland

Italy

Valentina Pagani

Caterina Arciprete

Adolfo Santoro

Myanmar

Myo Myint Htun

Poland

Urszula Markowska-Manista

Uganda

Nangiro Benjamin

United States of America

Katherine Lapham

Kelli Henry

John Wall

Kirsten Pontalti

Jodi Jakylovich

Michael Archambault

Bijan Kimiagar

Elyse Fuerst

Australia

Kate Neale

Stefania Velardo

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

Kane Smith

Rarni Rothwell

Philippa Byers

Joanne Dudeney

Carmen Huser

Olivia Karaolis

Wendy Goff

Chile

Irene Amalia Salvo Agoglia

Camilo Morales Retamal

Iskra Pavez Soto

Isaac Ravetllat Ballesté

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

Katrin Velten

Siri Brandis

Greece

Sofia Tsioli

Eleni Mousena

Nambia

Aggrey Kayabu Makendano

Netherlands

Özlemnur Ataol

Karin Arts

Kitty Jurrius

Christine Dedding

Karijn Aussems

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

Gemma Bryan

Christopher Sweeney

Naomi Jackson

Szilvia Papp

Amanda McCrory

Rhona Douglas

Katie Reid

Leda Kamenopoulou

Angola

Milagre Joana da Silva Passa

Austria/ Österreich

Christian Andersen

Argentina

Sebastián Javier Lipina

 Armenia

Veronika Odinokova

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

Nabin Maharjan

Ashley Stewart-Tufescu

Taylor Hansen

Tara Bruno

Caitlin Wood

Czech Republic

Marie Körner

Malta

Josephine Deguara

Mexico

Karina Patricia Franco Rodríguez

Yolanda Corona

Norma Del Rio

Zariá Casillas Olivares

Morocco

Zineb Kamal

Pakistan

Azza Warraitch

Narooz Akhtar

Perú

Carlos Javier Rodriguez Cuellar

Nicolle Valverde Ronceros

Elsie Finseth León

Carlos Ruiz Palma

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

Arnau Erta-Majó

Nuria Fuentes-Peláez

Neus Cortada Cortijo

M. Àngels Balsells Bailon

Eduard Vaquero Tió

Grup de Recerca en Infància, Adolescència i Famílies (GRIAF)

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

Raphael Fidelis Mwasoka

Geraldina Edward

Türkiye

Aslıhan Öztezel

Seda Basok

Mehmet Toran

Ayşe Yılmaz

Nihal Durmaz

Cafer Keleş

Seyda Karan

Keywords: ethical standards, child participation, transparency, responsible research