Towards the development of a capacity development framework for research ethics administrators: lessons from South Africa

𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Currently, research ethics capacity development is limited to research ethics committee (REC) members, and little research has been done on research ethics administrators, leading to lack of standardised requirements for this role, its responsibilities, and training requirements for fulfilling the supportive role for RECs. Although the role is administrative, research ethics administrators’ duties exceed those of just simple administration, and include complex demands such as preparing for audits. This study proposed and validated a capacity development framework for research ethics administrators in South Africa. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀: A scoping review was done to gain deeper insight into the history and current status of REC administration, with a specific focus on capacity development programs available for research ethics administrators. A questionnaire was then distributed to 36 research ethics administrators to determine the current responsibilities, training requirements and needs of the role, focusing on the local situation of REC capacity development. The first draft of the capacity development framework was developed through triangulating findings from the scoping review and questionnaire. A Delphi survey of the designed framework, completed by 13 experts from South Africa and abroad, was then conducted until consensus was reached. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: From the 22 studies synthesised in the scoping review, two reported that there had been two capacity development efforts for administrators in Africa, namely the African Conference for Administrators of Research Ethics Committees, and the West African Bioethics Training Program. Thirty-six (36) administrators from National Health Research Ethics Council-registered ethics committees in South Africa participated in the online cross- sectional survey. Nearly 49% of the participants indicated that they had only received informal research-ethics-related training – not targeted formal training. Of the 23 research ethics experts approached, 13 participated in the Delphi Survey, and results show that 67% of them confirmed that research ethics administrators require basic, entry-level training at the level of a Bachelor’s degree to be able to fulfil their duties. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Research ethics administrators need to have a Bachelor’s degree and be capacitated in ways comparable to the training received by research ethics committee members. The world of research is evolving fast and requires every role player in the research ethics committee to be adequately capacitated. ___________________________________________________________________