Financial Remuneration for Clinical and Behavioral Research Participation: Ethical and Practical Considerations
Abstract
Purpose Although the practice of providing payment to clinical research participants has been ongoing for more than a century, it remains an ethically controversial topic among members of the research community. The aims of this commentary are to summarize ethical and practical considerations regarding financial remuneration of research participants and to make recommendations for researchers contemplating this practice.Methods A PubMed search was conducted to explore the ethical implications surrounding financial remuneration and review the body of empiric data on this topic.Results Financial remuneration is perceived to be ethically acceptable by many researchers and research participants and can be helpful in the recruitment process. It is recommended that when investigators are contemplating whether to offer payment to research participants, they should consider the nature of the study and the potential benefits and risks to the participants, institutional or organizational guidelines, and cultural and societal norms specific to the population being studied.Conclusions Financial remuneration has the ability to serve as a sign of appreciation for the contributions of research participants and a way to facilitate clinical and behavioral research.
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Compensation can have an impact on the clinical representativeness of the sample.
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- Authors
- Permuth-Wey, J., & Borenstein, A. R.
- Affiliations
- University of South Florida (US)
- Venue
- Annals of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 280-285
- ISSN
- 1047-2797 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2016358264
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics in Clinical Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
- Keywords
- financial compensation, research ethics, clinical research, behavioral research, participant recruitment, institutional guidelines
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Trials as Topic, Cost Control, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Male, Reimbursement, Incentive, United States, Organizational Policy, Patient Selection, Government Regulation, Biomedical Research
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