Ethical Conduct of Research with Migrants and Refugees: A Systematic Qualitative Review of Ethics Guidelines

Abstract

There is increasing consensus across communities, health and social care practitioners and researchers in Australia of the need for specific ethical guidelines for research with migrants and refugees. We aim to identify existing documents providing ethics guidance for research with people from migrant and refugee communities, to appraise their quality, synthesise recommendations and identify gaps where additional guidance is required. This systematic review adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), 2020 guidelines. Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II was used to assess the quality of guidelines. Data sources include OVID Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Google Scholar from the database until June 2025. We identified 18 guidelines that fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The six principles identified to meet the specific needs of research with people from migrant and refugee communities were: (i) non-maleficence, the principle of “do no harm”; (ii) empowerment and community participation; (iii) social, health and scientific value of the research; (iv) respect for rights and dignity; (v) cultural sensitivity; and (vi) informed consent. The guidance documents were primarily focused on non-maleficence (avoiding the harms of research) rather than inclusive and collaborative research practices. There was insufficient information available in each guideline to evaluate quality across the different domains of the AGREE II. There are limited comprehensive, good-quality ethics guidelines for research with migrant and refugee communities. There is a clear opportunity to develop with communities, authoritative guidance that incorporates relevant recommendations from existing guidelines, addressing gaps noted, and includes implementation plans. Registration: PROSPERO, CRD42024473285.