Which of the following is a protection offered to research participants?

Informed consent is a critical element of ethical research practices and serves as a fundamental protection for research participants. It ensures that individuals are fully aware of the nature of the research they are participating in, including its purpose, potential risks, and benefits. Informed consent empowers participants to make educated decisions about their involvement in a study, allowing them to understand what participation entails and to agree to it voluntarily.

This process typically includes providing participants with clear information about the study as well as the opportunity to ask questions before they consent. Additionally, it encompasses the right to withdraw from the study at any time without facing consequences. By establishing informed consent as a requirement, researchers uphold the dignity and autonomy of participants, which is central to ethical research practices.

In contrast, the other options do not focus on protections for participants. Marketability of results relates to how findings might be used or sold, confidentiality of research funding pertains to the privacy of financial support rather than participant protection, and access to competitor studies is about information sharing, which does not directly protect the rights or welfare of research participants.