Supplementary material from "Ethical considerations related to drone use for environment and health research: a scoping review"

Background: Drones are increasingly used in environment and health research for data collection.Their unique capabilities, such as unrestricted aerial mobility and high-resolution imagery, can raise ethical concerns. This scoping review maps the literature on ethical considerations to inform responsible research practices. Methods: Five databases and grey literature were searched 2023 (n = 6,426). An expert advisory workshop was held on 26 April 2024. Full-text records (n = 80) were analyzed through four distinct lenses: 1) Research conduct, 2) Research reflection, 3) Community perceptions, and 4) Ethical guidelines. Results: 1) Including qualitative components increases level of community engagement. 2) Ethical concerns and mitigation strategies were thematically grouped into: social impacts, privacy, regulatory, autonomy, beneficence, safety, and technology (n = 16). 3) Public support for drones is contingent on the purpose of data collection, with scientific use generally received positively. 4) Ethical guidelines (n = 4) emphasize safety and technical compliance, with limited attention to community engagement. Conclusion: Ethical concerns around consent procedures, social impacts, institutional review board (IRB) classification, power dynamics, community benefits, and drone use in high-conflict or complex legal settings remain underexplored in ethical guidance for researchers.