The Digital Availability of US Departments of Corrections’ Research Policies: Cross-Sectional Analysis
There is an urgent need to streamline the processes of ethical research in carceral settings. Unethical research practices conducted in prisons promoted increased federal protections for incarcerated populations. However, the operationalization of federal protections for prisoner-related research has been heterogenous, with each state in the United States standing up independent systems to guide research in prisons. Internet availability of guidance about the process of research in prisons is helpful to researchers who are interested in partnering with carceral settings to evaluate and improve health for people with criminal-legal involvement. The goal of this research study was to evaluate the digital imprint of research policies of the Departments of Corrections (DOC) in the fifty United States. We developed an assessment tool that examined the availability of state DOC research information online. Each DOC was assessed for the presence and content of dedicated research webpages and the availability of contact information for research-related communication. Scores were assigned on an eight-point scale. Of the 48 state DOCs with websites, 33 contained research information—24 contained information on consent, 23 on participant recruitment, and 18 on participant reimbursement. 25 contained contact information for DOC staff. Nine states met all criteria of the eight-point scoring system. This high level of heterogeneity and limited accessibility may limit research initiation, though more work into how the internet accessibility of research documents facilitates prison-based research is required.
