Resisting the seduction of “ethics creep”: Using Foucault to surface complexity and contradiction in research ethics review

► This paper empirically investigates the supposed threat to social science health research posed by research ethics boards. ► We focus on the accounts of reviewing community-based participatory research, which has been deemed problematic. ► Using Foucauldian theory we locate this complex bioethics issue at the intersections of competing discourses.