Oxford Wildlife Trade Symposium: Guidelines and ethics for IWT research

Garry Potter and Jacob Phelps will host a 1-day workshop at the upcoming Oxford University Wildlife Trade Symposium, entitled "Guidelines and Ethics for Illegal Wildlife Trade Research.

There are no established guidelines for conducting IWT fieldwork, including market surveys, respondent sampling, ethics protocols etc. There are, however, very specific challenges to research that engages active criminals, hidden populations and sensitive issues. These present unique methodological challenges related to validity of information, researcher safety, ethics, sampling and project design. This session will explore key themes and challenges in conducting IWT fieldwork. It will present lessons from experienced IWT and criminology researchers, and draw on group discussion, debate and collective experiences to develop draft guidelines that can inform future IWT fieldwork.