Editor's Summary
2 August 2007
Board games
Institutional review boards (IRBs) or ethics committees are a vital part of the scientific and medical enterprise. But they have received a pretty bad press in recent years, and many researchers have become frustrated with their workings. Heidi Ledford talked to researchers and administrators looking for alternatives to the current systems — notably the independent institutional review board, an idea rapidly gaining support.
News Feature: Human-subjects research: Trial and error
The ethics committees that oversee research done in humans have been attacked from all sides. Heidi Ledford recounts the struggle to come up with alternatives.
doi:10.1038/448530a
