Ethical Review

Engagement with ethical review bodies (e.g., institutional ethics committees or review boards) constitutes a central step, particularly in projects involving visual data and open data practices. Ethical review should be addressed early and proactively, ensuring that key decisions concerning consent, anonymization, degrees of openness, access conditions, and potential reuse are anticipated rather than deferred to later stages of dissemination. 

Researchers are expected to submit clear and comprehensive written documentation of their data management and sharing strategies, typically through the Data Management Plan (DMP). This documentation should specify which visual materials are intended for sharing, under what conditions, how consent for data sharing and future reuse will be obtained, and how risks such as identifiability, misinterpretation, or misuse will be mitigated while acknowledging that such risks cannot be eliminated. 

Ethical Review as an Iterative and Reflexive Process 

Importantly, ethical review should be understood not as a one-time formal requirement, but as an iterative and reflexive process. If research conditions evolve, new forms of data emerge, or data sharing strategies change, these developments should be documented, reflected in the DMP, and, where necessary, communicated to the relevant ethics body to ensure ongoing ethical compliance.