Human subject protection in Taiwan (China)

Objective. (1) To evaluate the policies of Medical School Hospitals and Medical Centers in Taiwan regarding “human subject protection”; (2) To determine if the instructions by Taiwanese and international biomedical journals for authors require that research being considered for publication is in conformance with ethical standards; (3) To describe the knowledge and attitudes toward human subject protection of chief-editors in Taiwanese biomedical journals; (4) To describe the knowledge, attitudes, intention and behavior toward human subject protection of physician investigators in Taiwanese medical school hospitals and medical centers.; Methods. This project consisted of three parts. (1) A cross-sectional design and descriptive study. Twelve chief executive officers of medical school hospitals and medical centers in Taiwan were subject to the questionnaire investigation and in-depth review. (2) A cross-sectional and descriptive study The instructions for authors of 66 Taiwanese biomedical journals and 1,014 global biomedical journals were the information source. Meanwhile 48 chief-editors in Taiwanese biomedical journals finished questionnaire investigation. (3) A retrospective design and a descriptive study. 2,344 physician investigators in Taiwan who were the attending physicians and residents serving more than one year of twelve medical centers and associate hospitals of medical universities responded to a questionnaire investigation. They constituted 77% of the universe of such physicians.