Table 1 Interview guide

Prior to the interview:

Send an email to the selected participant and introduce yourself and give a brief explanation of the study and why the investigators selected them to be invited as an interviewee and ask for a time. Also, send a file consisting of a summary of the project by email.

In case of non-response, send a reminder email and emphasize the importance of the interview.

In case of a negative response thank the invitees and politely ask if they can explain the reason for the rejection.

In case of a positive response, set a time for the interview and confirm the meeting time by sending a reminder email or SMS two days before the interview.

Ensure your recording instrument before the interview.

Try to be on time and attend the meeting 15 min before the time of the interview.

Study title: Ethical Challenges in Conducting Research in Low and Middle Income Setting during Public Health Emergencies: A Qualitative Evidence of a COVID-19 Pandemic

Participant number:

Participant group (specialty):

Interview date:

Duration of the interview:

To start the interview:

• Ask for consent to turn the voice recorder on. Assure the participants about the confidentiality of the gathered data.

• After turning on the recorder, introduce yourself, the interviewee, and the date of the interview, and seek the interviewee’s consent to participate in the study and interviews.

• Explain the study’s objectives and justification, briefly explaining the background and defensive medicine definition and introducing the study’s team.

• Start questions one by one as below.

• During the interview, try not to interrupt the interviewee. If the discussion goes out of the topic, try to draw back the interviewee’s attention to the study’s objectives.

• In case the interviewees do not understand the question truly, give them examples of what is already said in literature or previous interviews.

• At the end of the interview, give a brief explanation about the next steps, the transcription of interviews, and the time that the research team keeps the recorded files and ask participants to ensure they have any other comments or suggestions.

• Prepare a visit card with your contact details and ask the participants to share any other issues, thoughts, or ideas with you through email.

The open-ended question would be asked at the beginning of the interviews to help the participants freely share their perspectives, here are general questions:

• What ethical issues did you experience in the research related to Covid?

• What ethical issues did you face while reviewing the designs?

• What ethical issues were associated with the implementation of research projects?

• How was your experience with the media?

In different participants, according to the initial answer, guided questions were asked. Also, participants were asked to give more explanations by asking for examples.