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How do you make sure that your research is done well and ethically? Generally speaking, academic research and product research follow two different but parallel lanes on the highway of review and oversight processes. You’ll want to be clear which of those lanes to occupy with the research you’re doing as part of your product development process. The checkpoints you’ll hit along the way will help ensure that your research is done ethically and correctly, and will reduce the chances that you lose users’ trust through a misstep.

I’m using the phrase “academic research” to describe any research done for the purpose of increasing scientific knowledge without direct product implications. Often, this is the type of investigation done by people at universities or research institutions, but sometimes companies will do it, too. Academic research often makes its way into the world through peer-reviewed journal publications that are theoretically available for anyone to read.⁴ Your outcomes research may fall into this category; your product iteration research probably won’t.

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If you’re interested in an academic research paper but can’t find the full text online, reach out to the author(s) directly. Twitter is a great way to do this, or you may be able to find their email addresses on the website of the organizations where they work. Most researchers are happy to share their papers if asked.

Importantly, when a team starts the process of planning an academic-type study, they’ll have a group called an Institutional Review Board (IRB) look over their protocols and materials. Most research institutions, including universities, have their own IRBs that are free for affiliates to submit to. There are also independent IRBs, which charge small fees to review study proposals. The IRB’s purpose is to make sure that any people who participate in the study are treated ethically. IRBs pay attention to details like whether people are compensated fairly for their time in the study, whether participants receive the information they need to understand what’s being asked of them and make an informed decision to take part or not, and whether they get the information they need to ask questions later if they want to.

Here’s an example of something I’ve been asked to fix as part of an IRB review for a study. I was giving people feedback on a puzzle task they’d just finished. Half of the participants were told they’d kicked the puzzle’s ass, while the other half were told they’d just proven themselves to be the world’s worst puzzlers. The feedback had no relationship to their actual performance. The IRB pointed out that the people getting the negative feedback might be in a bad mood afterward. They asked me to include something in the study to make them feel better. Their proposed solution? After getting the fake feedback, everyone watched a video of puppies and kittens. They were confused by the abrupt segue, but delighted by the cuteness.

Product research, in contrast to academic research, is done specifically in order to improve a product or service. It is unusual for this type of research to be published someplace where a general audience could read it. Its audience is usually product teams or other organizational decision-makers who will use the information to make decisions about a product feature, roadmap, or investment.

Usually, there is no IRB oversight of a product research study. There may be an internal team who reviews the proposed study protocol to make sure that it meets the needs of the organization and follows ethical processes, but that doesn’t always happen.⁵ If there’s not a formal review process set up, it’s still a best practice for an internal team to consider potential pitfalls. Specifically, the team should consider whether users who are part of the research will be put at risk by participating. How will their privacy be handled? Will they experience anything that might upset them or make them feel taken advantage of?

If a product team decides to do research that they might also try to publish in a journal, the best practice is for them to go through both the academic and the product research paths prior to launching the study. Their internal teams will still do their review of the research protocol to make sure that it supports their goals, but an IRB will do an additional review with an eye toward ethical issues.

So, if you’re planning research that will add to the general body of knowledge beyond your specific product, have an IRB review your protocol before you begin collecting data. If your research is purely for product development purposes, you probably don’t need an IRB. If you’re thinking about publishing the results of your study in a journal, that’s a strong signal that you should be talking to an IRB.