Author's Name:	Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava, Prateek Saurabh Shrivastava & Jegadeesh Ramasamy
Subject Area:	Health Science
Subject	Medicine and Dentistry
Section	Informative Article

Informed consent, Ethics committee, Clinical research

Any research involving human subjects should be conducted in conformity with the 4 basic ethical principles, namely autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. In biomedical research, two pillars have been identified – informed consent & independent review by an ethics committee. The process of obtaining an informed consent is an indispensable mechanism to ensure that all the four basic ethical principles are adhered to. In conclusion, in order to safeguard the health & well-being of the human participants in the research arena, the need of the hour is that the investigator and the institutional ethics committee should realize their responsibility and work in a collaborative manner giving due regard to informed consent.