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Introduction
Stefan Eriksson is a fellow at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics in Uppsala and has conducted research on issues such as informed consent and autonomy, biobank ethics, and the function and impact of research ethics codes. He is the editor of Swedish web page CODEX . In January 2010 Stefan was appointed Associate Professor of Research Ethics.
Current interest involve publication ethics, regulation studies in relation to research ethics and the ethics of synthetic biology.
Additional affiliations
January 2000 - present
Publications
Publications (85)
Objective
To systematically map the scholarly literature on predatory conferences and describe the present state of research and the prevalent attitudes about these conferences.
Methods
This scoping review follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Four databases were searched (PubMed/Medline, Web of Sci...
A global survey of researchers was conducted to gather perceptions on the prevalence and impact of predatory academic journals and conferences. The survey was open and inclusive in nature, with 1872 researchers, from a wide array of geographic regions, disciplines and academic career stages, voluntarily participating. Both quantitative and qualitat...
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a major threat to public health and healthcare worldwide. In this article, we analyse and discuss the claim that taking actions to minimize AR is everyone's responsibility, focusing on individual moral responsibility. This should not be merely interpreted as a function of knowledge of AR and the proper use of antibioti...
Little is known about the information parents of children with cancer find when searching for clinical trials information on YouTube. Thus, this study aimed to analyse the content, quality and reliability of YouTube videos focused on clinical trials for paediatric cancer. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used, and YouTube was searched using...
Background
Predatory publishing poses a fundamental threat to the development of nursing knowledge. Previous research has suggested that authors of papers published in predatory journals are mainly inexperienced researchers from low- and middle-income countries. Less attention has been paid to contributors from high-income countries.
Aim
To descri...
Due to the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance, medically unwarranted use of antibiotics has assumed new moral significance. In this paper, a thematic content analysis of focus group discussions was conducted to explore lay people’s views on the moral challenges posed by antibiotic resistance. The most important finding is that lay people are mo...
Objectives: To identify preferences of the Swedish public regarding antibiotic treatment characteristics and the relative weight of antibiotic resistance in their treatment choices.
Methods: A questionnaire including a discrete choice experiment questionnaire was answered by 378 Swedish participants. Preferences of the general public regarding five...
The purpose of retracting published papers is to maintain the integrity of academic research. Recent work in research ethics has devoted important attention to how to improve the system of paper retraction. In this context, the focus has primarily been on how to handle fraudulent or flawed research papers and how to encourage the retraction of pape...
Background:
Research and cancer care are closely intertwined; however, it is not clear whether physicians and nurses believe that clinical trials offer the best treatment for patients and, if so, whether this belief is justified. The aim of this study was therefore: (i) to explore how physicians and nurses perceive the benefits of clinical trial p...
We do not know how much clinical physicians carrying out clinical trials in oncology and haematology struggle with ethical concerns. To our knowledge, no empirical research exists on these questions in a Nordic context. Therefore, this study aims to learn what kinds of ethical challenges physicians in Sweden, Denmark and Finland (n = 29) face when...
Sometimes participants in research collaboration die before the paper is accepted for publication. The question we raise in this paper is how authorship should be handled in such situations. First, the outcome of a literature survey is presented. Taking this as our starting point, we then go on to discuss authorship of the dead in relation to the r...
International literature shows ethnic minorities and immigrants being underrepresented in clinical trials. This compromises the generalizability of the results and distributes the benefits of participating unequally. This problem is unexplored in Sweden. Therefore, this explorative qualitative study examines the barriers Swedish physicians encounte...
Background
High consumption of antibiotics has been identified as an important driver for the increasing antibiotic resistance, considered to be one of the greatest threats to public health globally. Simply informing the public about this consequence is insufficient to induce behavioral change. This study explored beliefs and perceptions among Swed...
This paper concerns the responsibility of co-authors in cases of scientific misconduct. Arguments in research integrity guidelines and in the bioethics literature concerning authorship responsibilities are discussed. It is argued that it is unreasonable to claim that for every case where a research paper is found to be fraudulent, each author is mo...
Considering the fact that authorship order plays such a significant role as a basis for scientific merit, this paper looks into the practices of authorship order from a research ethical perspective. We conclude that there is a wide variety of practices and no common understanding of what the different authorship positions signify. Authorship guidel...
This study investigated the kinds of ethical challenges experienced by nurses in oncology and hematology when nursing care and research overlap in clinical trials, and how the nurses handle such challenges. Individual interviews with 39 nurses from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland indicated that all nurses were positive about research, considering it e...
To identify the factors promoting and thwarting judicious antibiotic use in the Swedish population and their implications for communication strategies.
Key points
• A clear set of rules regarding authorship responsibilities in academic publications is much needed.
• The leading research integrity guidelines on scientific authorship, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Recommendations, are unclear about authorship responsibilities in case of misconduct.
• The source of the probl...
The term ‘predatory journal’ hides a wide range of scholarly publishing misconduct. The term ‘predatory journal’ unhelpfully bundles misconduct with poor quality. The term ‘predatory journal’ blinds us to important possibilities, needs, and questions arising in the developing scholarly landscape. The current scholarly publishing environment cannot...
‘Predatory’ publishing covers a wide range of journals with different characteristics. Society and scientists should not accept deceitful practices in science. Neither should we accept anything less than excellence from publishing houses. Therefore, we should take three measures: first, form committees for each research field to keep track of journ...
This paper describes and discusses the phenomenon ‘predatory publishing’, in relation to both academic journals and books, and suggests a list of characteristics by which to identify predatory journals. It also raises the question whether traditional publishing houses have accompanied rogue publishers upon this path. It is noted that bioethics as a...
Should people be involved as active participants in longitudinal medical research, as opposed to remaining passive providers of data and material? We argue in this article that misconceptions of 'autonomy' as a kind of feat rather than a right are to blame for much of the confusion surrounding the debate of dynamic versus broad consent. Keeping in...
Synthetic biology is a rapidly evolving field which potentially can change how we live in and understand the world. Given its potential impact it is important to inform and involve the public so that it gains a proper understanding of synthetic biology and is in a position to assess its future applications and implications. This study investigates...
Synthetic biology is a rapidly evolving field which potentially can change how we live in and understand the world. Given its potential impact it is important to inform and involve the public so that it gains a proper understanding of synthetic biology and is in a position to assess its future applications and implications. This study investigates...
Synthetic biology will probably have a high impact on a variety of fields, such as healthcare, environment, biofuels, agriculture, and so on. A driving theme in European research policy is the importance of maintaining public legitimacy and support. Media can influence public attitudes and are therefore an important object of study. Through qualita...
Involuntary treatment is a key issue in healthcare ethics. In this study, ethical issues relating to involuntary psychiatric treatment are investigated through interviews with Swedish psychiatrists.
In-depth interviews were conducted with eight Swedish psychiatrists, focusing on their experiences of and views on compulsory treatment. In relation to...
Decision-making capacity is a key concept in contemporary healthcare ethics. Previous research has mainly focused on philosophical, conceptual issues or on evaluation of different tools for assessing patients' capacity. The aim of the present study is to investigate how the concept and its normative role are understood in Swedish psychiatric care....
In this paper we discuss how the individual researcher’s moral responsibility for her work relates to research ethics as an extra-legal regulatory framework.
The management of commons is now at the centre of researchers' attention in many branches of science, particularly those related to the human or social sciences. This paper seeks to demonstrate how civil society participation in common goods or resources is not only possible but is also desirable for society because of the medium and long-term bene...
The management of commons is now at the centre of researchers’ attention in many branches of science, particularly those related to the human or social sciences. This paper seeks to demonstrate how civil society participation in common goods or resources is not only possible but is also desirable for society because of the medium and long-term bene...
My research focus is on synthetic biology outreach and on the way it is popularized by scientists. In this poster I present the results of an empirical analysis of scientists’ communication of achievements and state of the art in the public press.
Plagiarism is a major problem for research. There are, however, divergent views on how to define plagiarism and on what makes plagiarism reprehensible. In this paper we explicate the concept of "plagiarism" and discuss plagiarism normatively in relation to research. We suggest that plagiarism should be understood as "someone using someone else's in...
Research ethics, once a platform for declaring intent, discussing moral issues and providing advice and guidance to researchers, has developed over time into an extra-legal regulatory system, complete with steering documents (ethics guidelines), overseeing bodies (research ethics committees) and formal procedures (informed consent). The process of...
Different ideas of the normative relevance of autonomy can give rise to profoundly different action-guiding principles in
healthcare. If autonomy is seen as a value rather than as a right, it can be argued that patients’ decisions should sometimes
be overruled in order to protect or promote their own autonomy. We refer to this as paternalism in the...
Vi vill här ge en kort översikt över etiska problem och frågeställningar som aktualiseras vid klinisk observationell forskning. Vårt syfte är att medvetandegöra forskare i Sverige om
de etiska aspekter som kan läggas på deras forskning.
In 2011, for the first time ever, two scientific journals were asked not to publish research papers in full detail. The research in question was on the H5N1 influenza virus (bird flu), and the concern was that the expected public health benefits of disseminating the findings did not outweigh the potential harm should the knowledge be misused for ma...
Our starting point in this article is the debate between John Harris and Iain Brassington on whether or not there is a duty to take part in scientific research. We consider the arguments that have been put forward based on fairness and a duty to rescue, and suggest an alternative justification grounded in a hypothetical agreement: that is, because...
Life scientists have with increasing intensity been requested to recognize and take responsibility for the potential dual use implications of their work. To assist in meeting these demands, a number of educational modules have been produced to raise awareness of relevant dual use and biosecurity issues. A main purpose of such efforts has been to nu...
In Sweden, most patients are recruited into biobank research by non-researcher doctors. Patients' trust in doctors may therefore be important to their willingness to participate. We suggest a model of trust that makes sense of such transitions of trust between domains and distinguishes adequate trust from mistaken trust. The unique position of doct...
Respect for autonomy is typically considered a key reason for allowing physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. However, several recent papers have claimed this to be grounded in a misconception of the normative relevance of autonomy. It has been argued that autonomy is properly conceived of as a value, and that this makes assisted suicide as wel...
Our research group has argued extensively for broad consent to future research.1 2 3 We agree with Sheehan that broad consent is informed consent and argue that implementing policies of broad, presumed, or no consent are all ways to further the good that can be achieved through biobank …
Requiring informed consent for research on stored tissue samples and associated data safeguards the autonomy rights of donors. But Joanna Stjernschantz Forsberg, Mats Hansson, and Stefan Eriksson a ...
A wide variety of bioethical themes have recently been debated and researched in Sweden, including genetic screening, HPV vaccination strategies, end-of-life care, injustices and priority setting in healthcare, dual-use research, and the never-ending story of scientific fraud. Also, there are some new events related to Swedish biobanking that might...
Informed consent is central to modern research ethics. Informed consent procedures have mainly been justified in terms of respect for autonomy, the core idea being that it should be every competent individual's right to decide for herself whether or not to participate in scientific studies. A number of conditions are normally raised with regard to...
In the debate on biobank regulation, arguments often draw upon findings in surveys on public attitudes. However, surveys on willingness to participate in research may not always predict actual participation rates. We compared hypothetical willingness as estimated in 11 surveys conducted in Sweden, Iceland, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States and...
In a previous paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics, the authors argued that the research ethical principle stating that the individual shall have priority over science, found in many guidelines, is utterly unclear and because of this should be explicated or otherwise deleted. In a recent commentary, Parker argued that this leaves us defending a p...
The aim of the present study was to describe and explore the perception of ethical guidelines and their role in ethical competence-building among Swedish physicians and research nurses. Twelve informants were interviewed in depth. The results demonstrated that the informants had a critical attitude towards ethical guidelines and claimed to make lit...
In this article, it is claimed that the protective provisions for adults with impaired decision-making capacity are misguided, insofar as they do not conclusively state whether research on this group should be permitted only as an exception, and as they arbitrarily allow for some groups to benefit from such research while others will not. Moreover,...
Our claim in this paper is that not being identified as the data source might cause harm to a person or group. Therefore, in some cases the default of anonymisation should be replaced by a careful deliberation, together with research subjects, of how to handle the issues of identification and confidentiality. Our prime example in this article is co...
In an effort to increase the amount of organs available for transplantation, many countries have implemented presumed consent for organ donation. Presuming a wish to contribute to medical advances through biobank research on previously taken tissue samples could similarly improve health and wellbeing. In this article we analyze common arguments for...
In spite of the growing interest in nursing ethics, few studies have focused on ethical dilemmas experienced by nurses working with clinical studies as 'research nurses'. The aim of the present study was to describe and explore ethical dilemmas that Swedish research nurses experience in their day-to-day work. In a qualitative study a purposeful sam...
Most life science research entails dual-use complexity and may be misused for harmful purposes, e.g. biological weapons. The Precautionary Principle applies to special problems characterized by complexity in the relationship between human activities and their consequences. This article examines whether the principle, so far mainly used in environme...
During the past decade, various guidelines that imply a duty for researchers to disclose information obtained through research to participants have emerged. The character and extent of this obligation have been debated extensively, with much attention devoted to the decisiveness of the validity and utility of the results in question. The aim of thi...
In the past decade, the perception of a bioterrorist threat has increased and created a demand on life scientists to consider the potential security implications of dual use research. This article examines a selection of proposed moral obligations for life scientists that have emerged to meet these concerns and the extent to which they can be consi...
We found that dissent to storage and use of samples by Swedish healthcare biobanks is rare and does not pose a threat to research, concluding that the results give prima facie reason to consider a move to an opt-out system.1
Laurie presented two controversies as evidence that …
To estimate how many people object to storage of biological samples collected in health care in Sweden and to their use in research and how many withdraw previous consent.
Cross sectional study of register data.
Biobanks used in Swedish health care, 2005-6. Population Data on refusal to consent were obtained for 1.4 million biobank samples per year...
The number of legal and nonlegal ethical regulations in the biomedical field has increased tremendously, leaving present-day practitioners and researchers in a virtual crossfire of legislations and guidelines. Judging by the production and by the way these regulations are motivated and presented, they are held to be of great importance to ethical p...
This paper highlights a feature common to many ethical guidelines--namely, the idea that the interests of the individual shall always prevail over the interests of science and society. The paper presents how some major ethical guidelines treat the balancing of research interests against those of research subjects and spells out the difficulties in...
The right not to know personal health-related information has been included in prominent human rights documents and subsequently in national legislation since the middle of the 1990s. Apart from situations where another life is at stake, the right not to know has in these documents been formulated as if it should have precedence over other interest...
The 'right not to know' one's genetic status has been increasingly more recognised in ethical and legal instruments. Yet empirical research is limited, leaving discussion on a theoretical level. There are also divergent ideas as to what extent it should be respected. In this study, we explored the clinical preconditions for disclosure of increased...
There is a growing interest in ethical competence-building within nursing and health care practising. This tendency is accompanied
by a remarkable growth of ethical guidelines. Ethical demands have also been laid down in laws. Present-day practitioners
and researchers in health care are thereby left in a virtual cross-fire of various legislations,...
People taking part in research vary in the extent to which they understand information concerning their participation. Since they may choose to limit the time and effort spent on such information, lack of understanding is not necessarily an ethical problem. Researchers who notice a lack of understanding are in the quandary of not knowing whether th...
This paper discusses the potential harms involved in biobank research and how ethical review, informed consent, withdrawals, and anonymization of samples should be handled in the light of these harms. There is less risk involved in biobank research than in human subject research; it should therefore be treated differently. In our view, anonymizatio...
The American Journal of Bioethics 3.1 (2003) 65-67
Wittgenstein has not played a very important role in bioethics. Of course, the subject developed after philosophers' fascination with Wittgenstein's thinking had reached its peak. What's more, the idea that philosophy should aim at clearing up its own peculiar misunderstandings might at first glanc...
Projects
Projects (5)
The starting point for this project is the understanding public attitudes and preferences are key to find acceptance and compliance with public health programs. The project aims to contribute indications for how Swedish society could take on one of its most ardent tasks: to ensure an efficient and fair battle against infections and to maintain modern medical procedures.
The specific aims of this project are:
To investigate how the public balance benefits and risks with regard to antibiotics use, focussing on the trade-off between personal versus collective gain, and present versus future gain.
To develop an ethical normative framework for how to employ conventional and alternative (i.e. peptide-based) antibiotics in Sweden.
This project focuses on synthetic biology outreach and the way it is popularized by scientists. The aim is to suggest conceptual tools for a sober and grounded understanding of synthetic biology.
Goal: The Nordic Trial Alliance (NTA) is working hard to increase Nordic cooperation on clinical trials. So, in all probability, there will be an upswing of Nordic multicentre trials, in line with the new EU Regulation No 536/214. As research is at the heart of medical advances and increasingly has become embedded in clinical healthcare, nearly every medical professional can be engaged and play a significant role in clinical research. Therefore, this Nordic project is conducted in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland at oncology wards were research is a vital part. This project comprises several studies with the common aim to explore the various ethical perspectives of nurses and doctors as they have to deal with several value systems at once; caring/medicine, research and society. Until now we have performed more than 50 interviews, and we will be doing interviews until mid-October 2017 and then it is time for analysing and working on the manuscripts.
We have held our third project workshop and have now started the coding work. An oral presentation took place in Germany in December last year, and in June 2017 we held an oral presentation at the David Thomasma International Bioethics Retreat in Paris on preliminary results from interviews with physicians about their experiences of caring for oncology research participants. We are greatly thankful for all input and suggestions.