Conceptual development of human subjects in the ethics of internet research

**Background:** In the early years of using the internet for research purposes, it seemed that the research methods employed in the physical world could be equally applied to achieve research goals in the virtual world. However, researchers gradually realized that the ethical challenges posed in internet research are sometimes different from those in traditional research or at least have taken on a broader form. The aim of this article is to examine and analyze the concept of human subjects as one of the most important ethical issues in traditional research and to present a developed concept of it in internet research.

**Conclusion:** Influenced by the expansion of internet research, human research subjects evolve as a fundamental concept in the ethics of internet research. This development is addressed under the concepts of person-centeredness, text-centeredness, non-human research subjects, and the vulnerability of human subjects in examining ethical issues related to this type of research. Analyzing and understanding the concept of human subjects is crucial for recognizing the unpredictable ethical conditions in internet research. Therefore, the developed dimensions of the concept of human subjects should be employed to analyze and comprehensively evaluate these ethical situations in internet research.