In order to ensure that research is conducted in accordance with the principle of beneficence researchers should take time to carefully consider and articulate how their research will promote the status, rights and well-being of children and young people. Tangible benefits at the individual, family, community and social group levels should be identified. This exercise should be conducted both during the design of research and at regular intervals throughout the research process, i.e. during data collection, analysis and dissemination. Where tangible benefits cannot be identified, researchers should reconsider whether to engage in the research at all, and/or whether their research design or approach to analysis and/or dissemination need to adjusted.

The most important conflicting factor is the extent to which research which can be beneficial, might also result in harm, or risks of harm for children and young people. See the separate theme section on protecting and promoting children’s rights in the context of research participation for more information about minimising potential harms. The requirement to minimise potential harms arising from research should, therefore, also be considered in parallel with the principle of beneficence.

A second important and potentially conflicting aspect relates to whether and how children and young people can be incentivised to participate in research. There is a range of arguments both for and against doing this. Positive arguments include that incentives can boost levels of participation, making recruitment easier for researchers. Payments and incentives also acknowledge the efforts expended by children and young people in the context of research participation. For the most part, however, guidelines tend to advise against paying children and young people to participate in research as it may influence their participation and may also constitute a form of pressure, thus conflicting with the ethical obligation to obtain free and informed consent to research participation. Researchers should therefore ensure that any form of payment or incentives offered to children and young people should clearly be independent of research responses and degrees of engagement with the research process. One solution may be to acknowledge contributions to research after they have taken place, i.e. by providing a token of acknowledgement post-participation, rather than as a recruitment incentive.

Another option for researchers to consider in this regard is whether or not children and young people can be incentivised to participate in research at a group level, for example, by acknowledging the participation of a class of students participating in a research project by providing and/or developing relevant resources for the group.

Children should also be reminded that they may withdraw from research at any time without any negative consequences.

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