title: Using Social Media as a Research Recruitment Tool: Ethical Issues and Recommendations.
abstract: The use of social media as a recruitment tool for research with humans is increasing, and likely to continue to grow. Despite this, to date there has been no specific regulatory guidance and there has been little in the bioethics literature to guide investigators and institutional review boards (IRBs) faced with navigating the ethical issues such use raises. We begin to fill this gap by first defending a nonexceptionalist methodology for assessing social media recruitment; second, examining respect for privacy and investigator transparency as key norms governing social media recruitment; and, finally, analyzing three relatively novel aspects of social media recruitment: (i) the ethical significance of compliance with website "terms of use"; (ii) the ethics of recruiting from the online networks of research participants; and (iii) the ethical implications of online communication from and between participants. Two checklists aimed at guiding investigators and IRBs through the ethical issues are included as appendices.
authors.affiliation: a Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School and Harvard Catalyst.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gelinas
authors.affiliation: a Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School and Harvard Catalyst.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.affiliation: b Harvard Catalyst.
authors.forename: Sabune
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: a Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School and Harvard Catalyst.
authors.forename: I Glenn
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: c Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, Harvard Catalyst, and Harvard Medical School.
authors.forename: Holly Fernandez
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: d Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Catalyst.
authors.forename: Barbara E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Bierer
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics*; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D018579:Patient Selection / Q000941:ethics*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D061108:Social Media / Q000941:ethics*
keywords: ethics; privacy; recruitment; research; social media; transparency