When ethics and politics collide in donor-funded global health research

In this Viewpoint, we share our experience of censorship in evaluation research for global health. Our experience shows a broader trend of donors and implementing partners who deliberately use ethical and methodological arguments to undermine essential research. In a context of chronic underfunding of universities and their growing dependence on donor-driven research grants, we propose several structural and cultural changes to prevent manipulation of research governance systems and to safeguard the independence of research.