Research Ethics Forms Should Embrace Diversity and Patient Voice

In Canada, researchers often submit applications to ethics boards before starting a study. These forms normally ask for basic details about the trial, but they rarely prompt investigators to think about who will benefit from the research or how patients will be involved in decisions. The study looked at a wide sample of application forms and templates used across the country. Researchers counted how many included language about equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI), patient engagement, or shared decision‑making. The findings were striking: most documents offered little or no guidance on these topics. Only a small fraction asked investigators to describe strategies for reaching under‑represented groups or for involving patients in design and oversight.This lack of guidance can make it harder for trials to recruit diverse participants or to produce results that apply broadly. It also means patients may not have a say in how studies are run, limiting the relevance of findings to real‑world needs. The authors suggest that ethics boards revise their templates to include explicit prompts about EDI and patient involvement. By making these considerations a required part of the application, researchers will be more likely to plan inclusive studies from the start. Future work could test whether adding such prompts actually improves recruitment of diverse participants and enhances patient collaboration in trial design. Overall, the research highlights a gap between the ideal of inclusive science and the current paperwork that researchers must complete before their studies can begin.