Members of Research Ethics Committees have the responsibility of ensuring that medical research on humans is conducted in an ethical manner. In order to fulfil this function, Research Ethics Committees must engage in reasonable discussion and consideration of the ethical issues in each of the research proposals they have to review. This is demanding and time-consuming work, and the responsibilities entailed are considerable. On the one hand there is the need to contribute to the evidence base upon which modern medicine is based, on the other is the need to protect those who participate in the research process.

To assist in this process of review, the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics began producing the Manual for Research Ethics Committees. Under the editorship of Claire Foster, the Manual grew from the slim ring binder of 1992 to the two very large and very heavy black volumes of the 1997 5th edition.

The Manual has had a loyal readership over the past decade, with orders increasingly coming not only from Local Research Ethics Committees and Multi-centre Research Ethics Committees but also from research institutes, hospitals, universities and pharmaceutical companies in the UK, North America, India, Africa and Australia.

Ethics in medical research is no longer an issue to which a passing nod can be given in order to fulfil minimum requirements.