Abstract
This article analyzes the implementation of research ethics committees in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, a process that took place in the context of a historical process of implementing health research policies at both the national and jurisdictional levels. Employing a qualitative, observational, and cross-sectional approach, we gathered secondary sources of public information and conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with members of the committees in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The results are presented in relation to three aspects: 1) the composition of the research ethics committees; 2) work processes, emphasizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and 3) obstacles and proposals, that focuses on improvements identified by committee members.