https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264619854629 Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 1–16 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1556264619854629 journals.sagepub.com/home/jre Paper for a Special Issue on Ethical Issues in Social Media Research Introduction Social media (SM) presents a multitude of opportunities to engage research participants. Researchers can initiate con- tact and invite potential participants through social net- working sites (recruitment; Thornton et al., 2016). In longitudinal research, researchers can maintain contact with participants by posting updates on dedicated study Facebook sites (retention; McGinley, Zhang, Hanks, & O’Neill, 2015) and search for participants who have been lost to follow up using SM search features (tracing; Schneider, Burke- Garcia, & Thomas, 2015). While there is a growing body of literature on the utility of using SM to engage research par- ticipants, empirical literature examining the ethical implica- tions of recruiting, retaining, or tracing participants via SM is limited. Little is known about researchers’ and human research ethics committee (HREC) members’ views, atti- tudes, and ethical concerns toward using SM in this context. It is also unclear what resources researchers and HREC members use when considering the ethical appropriateness of such research. This article presents findings from an online survey of Australian researchers and HREC mem- bers regarding their experiences, attitudes, and ethical con- cerns toward recruiting, retaining, and tracing participants using SM. We note that research on SM itself or the use of SM as a data source (e.g., content analysis, “big data” ana- lytics) is gaining popularity, yet is beyond the scope of this article. SM are web-based communication channels that allow a community of users to interact and create and share content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Examples include social net- working sites (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn), microblogs (e.g., Twitter), and discussion forums. Worldwide, SM use con- tinues to grow (Kemp, 2017). Australians are particularly strong SM users: 70% use SM, with half of adults accessing Facebook daily (Cowling, 2018; Despinola, 2018). As the popularity of SM as a communication tool has grown, so too has the application of SM as a research tool. 854629JRE XX X 10.1177/1556264619854629Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research EthicsHokke et al. research-article 2019 1 La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia 2 Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia 3 Parenting Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia 4 Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 5 The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Corresponding Author: Stacey Hokke, Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086, Australia. Email: s.hokke@latrobe.edu.au Ethical Considerations in Using Social Media to Engage Research Participants: Perspectives of Australian Researchers and Ethics Committee Members Stacey Hokke 1 , Naomi J. Hackworth 1,2,3 , Shannon K. Bennetts 1,2 , Jan M. Nicholson 1,2,4 , Patrick Keyzer 1 , Jayne Lucke 1,5 , Lawrie Zion 1 , and Sharinne B. Crawford 1 Abstract Researchers increasingly use social media (SM) to recruit, retain, and trace participants, yet empirical literature investigating the ethics of engaging participants via SM is lacking. We conducted a survey of 401 Australian researchers and human research ethics committee (HREC) members to examine their experience, attitudes, and ethical concerns toward engaging participants via SM. Data revealed that researchers and HREC members share similar concerns and attitudes about using SM in general and in research. We identified a strong demand for additional support, training, and guidance on SM research ethics. This need reflects researchers’ and HREC members’ limited confidence and knowledge of ethical issues in this context and a lack of awareness of available SM-specific ethical guidelines. Keywords Internet research, social media, research ethics, participant recruitment, participant retention, participant tracing, institutional review board, human research ethics committee, survey research