TY - JOUR T1 - Ethical approval in developing countries is not optional JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 428 LP - 430 DO - 10.1136/medethics-2011-100123 VL - 38 IS - 7 AU - Edwin R van Teijlingen AU - Padam P Simkhada Y1 - 2012/07/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/38/7/428.abstract N2 - When conducting health and medical research it is important to do the research ethically and to apply for prior ethical approval from the relevant authorities. The latter requirement is true for developed countries as well as developing countries. The authors argue that simply applying for research ethics approval from an institutional review board at a university based in a developed country is not enough to start a health research project in a developing country. The paper also suggests a number of reasons why researchers may fail to seek local research ethics permission in developing countries. The authors use a recent paper reporting research conducted in Nepal and published in an international journal as a case study to highlight the importance of being sensitive to local requirements regarding applying for and registering health and medical research. ER -