Research ethics and human risks.

Summary Scientific research is confronted with ethical questions in its very activity (fraud, possible conflicts of interest between scientific activity and commercial partners, etc.). It also encounters ethical questions when it is applied to human beings and is then likely to have consequences on their freedom or their security. It is not only biomedical research that is concerned here, but any research activity whose consequences are likely to affect either individuals or populations, which is the case in psychology and sociology and in any research involving the use of personal data.