Research requires high-quality ethical and governance scrutiny and approval. However,
when research is conducted across different countries, this can cause challenges due
to the differing ethico-legal framework requirements of ethical boards. There is no
specific guidance for research which does not involve non-medicinal products.To describe
and address differences in ethical and research governance procedures applied by research
ethics committees for non-pharmaceutical palliative care studies including adult participants
in collaborative European studies.An online survey analysed using descriptive statistics.Eighteen
principal investigators in 11 countries conducting one of three European-funded studies.There
was variation in practice including whether ethical approval was required. The time
to gain full approvals differed with the United Kingdom having governance procedures
that took the longest time. Written consent was not required in all countries nor
were data safety monitoring committees for trials. There were additional differences
in relation to other data management issues.Researchers need to take the differences
in research approval procedures into account when planning studies. Future research
is needed to establish European-wide recommendations for policy and practice that
dovetail ethical procedures and enhance transnational research collaborations.
