ArticleInternational health2020
Participant compensation in global health research: a case study.
Article in International health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The Professional-Volunteer Paradox: Transforming Lived Experience into a Sense of Purpose in Dutch Oncology Patient Advocacy.The patient · 2026Article
- Advancing health research practices among forcibly displaced populations: A multidisciplinary stakeholder workshop.Health research policy and systems · 2026Article
- Open science and epistemic equity: opportunities and challenges in the contemporary research ecosystem.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Priorities for addressing mental health conditions and substance use disorders in prisons in sub-Saharan Africa: expert consensus from a Delphi panel.The lancet. Psychiatry · 2025Review
- Methodological reflections on identifying and reaching groups left behind from health programs for fieldwork in Kerala, India.Discover public health · 2025Article
- "Are you sure you want to go to that village"; a qualitative review of the challenges, experiences and lessons learnt from a nutritional survey in rural and urban communities in Nigeria.BMC research notes · 2024Review
- A taxing problem: The impacts of research payment practices on participants and inclusive research.PloS one · 2024Article
- Toward equitable payment for inclusive participation.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2023Article
- Handling Ethics Dumping and Neo-Colonial Research: From the Laboratory to the Academic Literature.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2022Article
- Ethical considerations around volunteer payments in a malaria human infection study in Kenya: an embedded empirical ethics study.BMC medical ethics · 2022Article
- A framework for the promotion of ethical benefit sharing in health research.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Personal exposures to fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide in relation to cooking activities in rural Malawi.Wellcome open research · 2022Article
- Dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open science: a scoping review.Royal Society open science · 2022Article
- Exploring smoke: an ethnographic study of air pollution in rural Malawi.BMJ global health · 2021Article
- Spotlight on global health research.International health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCompensation for research participants can be provided for reasons including reimbursement of costs; compensation for time lost, discomfort or inconvenience; or expression of appreciation for participation. This compensation involves numerous ethical complexities, at times entailing competing risks. In the context of transnational research, often incorporating contexts of economic inequality, power differentials and post-colonialism, these issues extend into wider questions of ethical research conduct.
methodsWe describe experiences of conducting a community-based study of air pollution in southern Malawi incorporating ethnographic, participatory and air quality monitoring elements. Decisions surrounding participant compensation evolved in response to changing circumstances in the field.
resultsAttention to careful researcher-participant relationships and responsiveness to community perspectives allowed dynamic, contextualised decision-making around participant compensation. Despite widely cited risks, including but not restricted to undue influence of monetary compensation on participation, we learned that failure to adequately recognise and compensate participants has its own risks, notably the possibility of 'ethics dumping'.
conclusionsWe recommend active engagement with research participants and communities with integration of contextual insights throughout, including participant compensation, as for all elements of research conduct. Equitable research relationships encompass four central values: fairness, care, honesty and respect.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.