Linguistic Fieldwork Ethics & Informed Consent | Research Methods

Collaborative research requires mutual, respectful, productive relations desired by the community. Researchers must match research to community priorities and ask how their work benefits the community. Capacity-building involves enhancing community skills in research methods and oversight. Communities choose varying engagement levels, and researchers shouldn't impose formulas. This differs from colonial practices where outsiders determined what worked for communities.

Community-based research builds capacity beyond producing research outputs. In the Surrey project, eight peer research assistants were hired and trained, with some continuing to work with the City of Surrey on implementing recommendations and others receiving reference letters for employment and education. Research questions should be developed collaboratively with community members to ensure relevance to their perceived needs. The Community-Based Research Excellence (CBRE) Tool can be used at various stages of a project, with different elements measurable at different points, allowing for ongoing assessment and improvement of community-based research practices throughout the research process.

Capacity building in collaborative research should not be conceptualized as one-way streets from university to community. Indigenous communities build capacity at universities by supporting research activities of indigenous academics, enhancing careers and providing students with field experience. Community researchers learn by interviewing elders and engaging with community history, not from skills transfer from university researchers. Indigenous communities are not passive recipients but strategic hosts who engage in research to build institutional expertise and establish relationships for their own purposes. Early university-initiated research has been empowered to move to a community-driven model where communities shape research themes and products toward community priorities. Communities approach all research with an evaluative lens, calculating whether investments are balanced by direct benefits or broader auxiliary benefits in relationships with powerful institutions.

Sustainable global health research requires prioritizing local capacity building over extractive data collection models. Effective capacity development must understand local needs, available resources, and cultural contexts rather than replicating Northern research structures. True co-creation emerges when local issues, needs, and capacities combine with global research priorities through sustained investment in people, resources, and time. Researchers bear responsibility to return findings in accessible formats and ensure fair processes. Meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration involves accepting that debates, frictions, and disagreements are essential learning opportunities that reveal boundaries and potential bridges between different groups. The ultimate goal transcends completing individual projects to instead building lasting research infrastructures and fostering ongoing partnerships across Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean communities.

Effective research capacity building follows a systematic collaborative framework: first, engaging diverse stakeholders to identify practice-oriented research priorities; second, organizing iterative events to refine and validate these priorities; third, translating identified priorities into actionable research agendas; fourth, establishing Communities of Practice to sustain knowledge exchange; fifth, providing direct support through research advice clinics; sixth, developing targeted training programs based on practitioner needs; seventh, facilitating networking opportunities to connect professionals; and eighth, mapping existing research networks to maintain and expand collaborative efforts.

The Global Indigenous Data Alliance developed CARE principles as a framework complementary to FAIR data principles. CARE stands for: Collective Benefit (designing data ecosystems to enable indigenous people to derive benefits for inclusive development and improved governance); Authority to Control (recognizing indigenous peoples' rights and interests and respecting their authority to control such data); Responsibility (ensuring well-being is the primary concern at all stages of the data cycle); and Ethics (supporting indigenous self-determination and positive relationships).

The CARE Principles (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics) provide a comprehensive framework for indigenous data governance. These principles address tensions between protecting indigenous rights and supporting open data initiatives, empowering indigenous peoples to govern their knowledge from generation through storage, use, and reuse. The framework applies across the entire data lifecycle: defining cultural metadata and recording provenance during data collection, and using appropriate governance models to make data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) during stewardship. Current implementation mechanisms include traditional knowledge labels, institutional notices, repository policies requiring proof of permission, and data sharing agreements. The Global Indigenous Data Alliance supports co-production of policies, practices, and tools for implementation.

The CARE principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) provide a framework complementary to mainstream FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible). Collective benefit requires data frameworks allowing indigenous peoples to derive benefit, using indigenous classification schemes and analysis frameworks appropriate to the community. Authority to control recognizes indigenous peoples' rights to free prior and informed consent regarding data use, requiring institutional protocols and community control of data. Responsibility involves participatory methodologies, biocultural labels in metadata, community-defined review processes, and explaining benefits to communities. Ethics prioritizes indigenous ethical frameworks, minimizing harms, and accounting for secondary use of data that may be used in ways never anticipated.

The CARE principles (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) provide ethical guidelines for working with Indigenous data. C ensures Indigenous peoples derive primary benefit from research, moving beyond exploitative models where scholars take knowledge and leave. A recognizes Indigenous data sovereignty, giving Indigenous peoples authority over their data rather than researchers who collected it. R holds researchers accountable for their actions and requires transparency about how data supports Indigenous self-determination. E places Indigenous peoples' rights and well-being as primary concerns throughout the data lifecycle. The Language Data Commons of Australia implements these principles through explicit access condition communication, requiring licensing before data access, and using icons to indicate restriction levels. Decisions about access authority rest with data custodians and stewards, not the repository.

The CARE Principles (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics) provide a framework for Indigenous data governance that complements the FAIR Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), establishing minimum standards for how external entities interact with Indigenous data and peoples. These principles assert Indigenous rights to govern data collection, ownership, and application, recognizing that knowledge belongs to the collective and is fundamental to Indigenous identity. Practical tools like Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels and Biocultural (BC) Labels enable communities to embed cultural protocols, provenance information, and consent requirements directly into digital records, while Notices help institutions and researchers acknowledge Indigenous rights and commit to collaborative data governance.

BRIN, Indonesia's new National Research and Innovation Agency established under Law 11 of 2019, has centralized research governance by merging four main research institutions (LIPI, LAPAN, BATAN, BPPT) and over 40 government ministry research units. Foreign researchers must obtain ethical clearance through BRIN's ethical committee, followed by a research permit (SEP) and E29 visa application, with partnering Indonesian institutions serving as guarantors. The process involves online applications for ethical clearance and permits, while visa and Kitas (Temporary Stay Permit) require online registration with offline document submission. Key requirements include uploading research data to the National Scientific Repository and obtaining institutional MOUs. Processing times range from 7-10 days for permits to up to eight weeks for ethical clearance, with total timelines typically requiring two months or more. BRIN is establishing an international office to assist foreign researchers with these complex procedures.

This segment covers regulations for foreign researchers conducting research in Indonesia, based on Law Number 11 of 2019 Articles 75 and 76. Foreign parties include foreign IPTEK institutions, Indonesian citizens affiliated with foreign institutions, and foreign individuals. Research requires permission from the central government and ethical clearance. Obligations include complying with regulations, producing outputs benefiting Indonesia, involving Indonesian IPTEK resources with equivalent scientific capacity, listing Indonesian personnel in outputs, conducting technology transfer, submitting primary data, and distributing profits professionally. The permit process involves: Ethics Commission approval, blacklist verification, PNBP payment, and permit issuance. Required documents include passport, research proposal, cooperation agreement, partner guarantee letter, and material transfer agreements. Research in conservation areas requires additional permits from the Directorate General of Conservation. Marine research requires security clearance from the Ministry of Defense and e-KITAS from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Material transfers require agreements reviewed by the BRIN Material Transfer Commission.

RIN is governed by four key regulations: Law No. 11 of 2019 on National Iptek System (Article 40 mandates mandatory data submission), Regulation No. 18 of 2022 (requires data submission within 3 months after research completion), Presidential Regulation No. 39 of 2019 on Indonesia Data, and BRR No. 22 of 2022 on research ethics. Repository Data stores primary research data, while Repository Karya stores research outputs. Primary data includes notes, graphs, tables, maps, images, and videos. Research ethics clearance requirements vary by field and can be checked at clearance.co.id.

BRIN provides several support services for researchers: (1) Research permits for foreign researchers under Law 11/2019, which serves as the basis for C315 visa applications; (2) Free ethical clearance services for all researchers (Indonesian and foreign) across social sciences, humanities, health, and animal research; (3) Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) guidance and templates to comply with regulations prohibiting material transfer abroad when domestic testing is possible; (4) Scientific recommendations for research involving endangered species and flora, which can be submitted to KLHK for approval.

Indonesia established BRIN (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional) as a unified national research and innovation agency to consolidate previously fragmented research institutions, improve research efficiency, and coordinate scientific efforts more effectively for national development.