Health research challenges in COVID times

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic brought unexpected changes to how scientific knowledge is produced and published, but recent events have ignited a debate about the quality of the information being disseminated. The urgent need for robust evidence to guide the decisions of health policymakers, frontline healthcare teams, and the scientific community has increased the pressure on researchers to produce and disseminate scientific material, while simultaneously altering the usual checks and balances of this activity. According to M. Munafò, “Data and knowledge are urgently needed, but misinformation is worse than no information at all. We must ensure that the speed of knowledge generation does not come at the expense of its quality.” To obtain quality information with scientific evidence, transparency, rigor, controls, and the ability to replicate results (a way of testing whether the original observations are reliable) are essential. This is not a linear process and necessarily takes time. It is acknowledged that in this exceptional situation, a different standard than usual may be acceptable; however, this does not change the due diligence required of scientists. Therefore, the scientific response to the emergency must not compromise scientific rigor or the essential ethical guidelines for conducting it. And it is precisely in these exceptional circumstances that the ethical safeguards governing research must be given the utmost consideration.