Naslov
Preventing inequity in international research

Autori
Rudan, Igor

Izvornik
Science (0036-8075) 319 (2008), 5868; 1336-1337

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, pismo uredniku, stručni

Ključne riječi
inequity ; international research

Sažetak
Being originally from an Eastern European country, I’ve noticed two possible practices in establishing international research collaboration between richer and poorer countries. In the more desirable scenario, investigators from wealthy countries spend time living in poorer countries, where they patiently gain trust of local people and build capacity in local research infrastructure. In the other scenario, investigators use local researchers to perform the difficult, risky, and demanding part of the work, after which they collect the raw data and begin to publish papers. In my international health work in Africa, I learned of the extremes of both approaches. The latter breed of scientists was nicknamed the "vampires" by the local community, as they were only seen when flying in to collect blood samples. It was difficult to avoid associations to the "vampires" when reading the Report "Cognitive recovery in socially deprived young children: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project, " by C.A. Nelson III et al. (21 December 2007, p. 1937). Reading this Report raised a number of questions. How was it possible to publish this study without any coauthors based at Romanian institutions? If this study is not cause for major ethical concerns, as a related Policy Forum suggested, why was it not initially conducted in deprived areas of the western country? Would Science publish exactly the same paper on 187 Romanian children if all six coauthors were Romanian scientists? I am absolutely sure that the authors of the study and the Science editors could easily provide perfectly reasonable answers to all three of my intuitive questions. However, I don’t think that is really the point. The point is that when international research collaborations between the scientists from the wealthier and the poorer countries are based on good principles of equity and mutual respect, questions like these should never even come to mind.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita

POVEZANOST RADA