Health sciences librarians' awareness and incorporation of informed consent standards for medical image publication: a preliminary study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if health sciences library workers were aware of informed consent best practices and standards for the publication of medical images and if they incorporated the recommendations into their professional work. Methods: A survey was developed by the authors to determine awareness and incorporation of informed consent best practices and standards for the publication of medical images. The survey was distributed via listservs of professional librarian associations in the United States. The results of the survey were tabulated in RStudio. Fisher's Exact Test was carried out to determine if awareness of informed consent influenced job responsibilities. Results: A total of 91 respondents were included in the data analysis with all respondents reporting multiple responsibilities (instructional, collections, and/or digital initiatives). While the majority of library workers (59%) were aware of the best practices and standards, few (6.6%) incorporated the recommendations into their professional work. Over 50% of librarians with instructional responsibilities, over 70% of librarians with collections responsibilities, and over 60% of librarians with digital initiative responsibilities were aware of the recommendations but did not incorporate the recommendations into their job duties. Conclusions: The professional work of health sciences library workers does not appear to include a significant incorporation of informed consent best practices and standards for the publication of medical images. There is a need for future research to better understand how library workers can better incorporate their knowledge of informed consent recommendations into their work.