The African Studies Association represents a diverse group of people interested in Africa and its people. The Association has a long history of commitment to fostering the study of Africa, to supporting research by Africans, and of promoting collaboration among students of Africa. No guidelines for conduct can presume to be comprehensive nor universally applicable because the range of activities conducted by our members is vast and the contexts in which they conduct research and project work change constantly. Nonetheless, several enduring principles are foundations for Deposition of Data and Publications ethical conduct of research across cultures, international boundaries, and among those with uneven access to financial and professional resources. These principles are not separate, but form a reasonable framework for responsible conduct of research.

1. Do No Harm

When conducting research or pursuing professional activities in Africa, members of the Association shall seek to be conscious of and to minimize the potential risks in the present and future which their research may pose for those who participate or are being studied. Responsible conduct necessitates that the researcher be well-informed about the wider political, cultural, economic, religious, and social contexts of the research in order to ensure that the research will not put collaborators, research subjects, students, or assistants at risk of any kind.

Researchers should respect the integrity, morality, and traditions of the people they study. Researchers should commit themselves to the most ethical practices in the conduct of responsible research and, as far as possible, to respect prevailing local practices of hiring, training, and using assistants and subjects. Researchers also commit themselves to pursue non-discriminatory practices whenever possible.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Back to Top
 
 
 

2. Open and Full Disclosure of Objectives, Sources of Funding, Methods, and Anticipated Outcomes

Members of the Association are committed to open and full disclosure of the research to all cooperating African colleagues and institutions, all graduate and field assistants, and the subjects we study. Each of these should have full access to the objectives of the research, the sources of funding, the methods to be employed, and the anticipated outcomes of the research.

Because the findings of our research or recommendations drawn from it may affect the interests of the peoples and communities we study, members of the Association should be conscious of the potential uses and abuses of the research data, the interests of the sponsors and funders of the research, as well as any third parties who may have access to the findings or data.

When we engage in research in Africa, we shall notify our African colleagues of the sponsors, funders, and potential uses intended for the information to be collected. We shall not engage in any research which we know or believe to be funded secretly, is likely to be used for covert purposes, or to have potentially negative consequences for our colleagues. We shall make every effort to keep all of our research, instructional, and service activities free of sponsorship, direct funding, or secret uses by military and intelligence agencies of all governments. We shall not knowingly engage or participate in projects which could be reasonably construed as sustaining or strengthening the powers of political leaders or states guilty of violations of human rights. Furthermore, we are committed to keeping in the public domain all research and publications completed under sponsorship of any government.
 
 

Back to Top
 
 
 
 

3. Informed Consent and Confidentiality

We shall seek to obtain the fully voluntary and informed consent of all the people participating in our research before any research is undertaken. Researchers should develop instruments of informed consent that are appropriate to the cultural context of the research. Such instruments should not only inform the subjects of the nature of the research and its potential risks, but also should provide guarantee to subjects that if they wish, their confidentiality will be fully respected. Researchers should be cognizant of the real difficulties of securing informed consent in contexts of uneven power relations and should develop strategies or techniques for ensuring fully informed consent.
 
 
 
 

Back to Top
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

4. Reciprocity and Equity

Members of the Association have a responsibility to support and encourage the professional activities of African collaborators and colleagues and, when appropriate, to build collaborative research and programs with them. Our research should build the capacity of our collaborators and their institutions of research and higher education through programs of training and professional development.

All researchers engaged in collaborative research should explain fully the nature of such collaboration, including issues of authorship, access to data collected, intellectual property rights, rights to inventions and copyrights with African colleagues, professionals, and graduate students.
 
 
 
 

Back to Top
 
 
 
 
 
 

5. Deposition of Data and Publications

Researchers should return the results of scholarly activities to the communities and the country in which the research was conducted, including preliminary reports, papers, dissertations, and all forms of publication. Copies of all findings and publications should be provided to African colleagues and institutions with whom they have cooperated or established affiliations. The communities studied or engaged in the research should receive at least a summary of the research and its findings in a form and language they can understand.

Eventually and to the extent feasible, the researcher also should return copies of primary data sets and relevant notes to a responsible archive or depository in the country of research so that the data and materials can be made available to indigenous researchers. In both the research reports and the data sets, the identities of the persons who provided information should be kept confidential and disguised unless they have given permission for their identities and the information offered to be revealed. When scholars publish their data, they should make every effort to see that their publications are not exploited for inordinate profit and that they are made available to scholars, libraries, and higher education institutions in Africa at charges that are reasonable in that country.
 
 
 
 

Back to Top