Ethics Compliance in Sub-Saharan African Higher Education Research (ECiSHER) Involving Human Participants: A Systematic Review of a Decade of Literature.

Abstract

This study systematically reviews literature on ethics compliance in human-participant research within Sub-Saharan African (SSA) higher education, guided by PRISMA and based on 58 studies. Over half of the studies (32; 55.2%) employed qualitative methods to explore ethics in human-participant research. Research output was lowest in 2017 (1 study; 1.7%) and peaked in 2024 (12; 20.7%). South Africa contributed the most studies (13; 22.4%), followed by Nigeria (9; 15.5%), while Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Mali, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe each produced one (1.7%). The dominant challenge identified was the inconsistent application of ethical guidelines (56; 96.5%). Strengthening institutional ethics policies was the most frequent recommendation (51; 94.4%), while digitalisation of ethics review processes emerged as a significant trend (43; 74.8%). Capacity building for research ethics committees (RECs) and institutional review boards (IRBs) was highlighted. Harmonising ethical standards and providing targeted training to strengthen ethics governance in SSA higher education research were recommended.