To START the formal ethics review, you need to complete an Online Ethics Checklist. Log in using your University credentials and click on ‘Create’ to begin.
You must not start your research data collection activity or approach your research participants UNTIL you have completed an online ethics checklist and the checklist has been AUTHORISED online. Research ethics forms an integral part of proper scientific conduct, which we expect all staff and students to adhere to.
General Information
Completing the Online Ethics Checklist
Before completing the checklist you should read:
Research Ethics Code of Practice
Code of Good Research Practice
Guidance on how to complete the online ethics checklist:
Completing the online ethics checklist:
Section 1: Researcher/Project Details
- The summary should be no more than 500 words and written clearly and free from jargon. Please explain any technical terms or discipline-specific phrases. Do not attach a research protocol in place of completing the summary section.
- Briefly outline the overall aim of your research and brief justification for undertaking the research. Please explain your main method(s) e.g. survey, interviews, observation (overt or covert), focus group or lab based tests (this not an exhaustive list).
- Briefly outline any ethical issues but note that if you intend to involve human participants, you will be prompted to address anticipated ethical issues as you work through the checklist (section 3). If you are not working with human participants or their data there may be other ethical considerations such as managing risks of research misuse?
Section 2: Filter Questions
- The questions that appear in Section 3 are based on the filter questions you select, so it is important that you select only those filter questions that are relevant to your project. However, do not avoid filter questions to side-step answering questions relevant to your research!
- Click on the help guides if you are unsure if a question applies to your research or not.
Section 3: My Research
- The questions appear in ‘blocks’ and all questions within a block must be completed. Please remember to save any new information given before moving in-between sections. The PDF checklist is generated based on the answers you give to the questions in Section 3. This is the document Reviewers will download to assess the ethical viability of your project.
Section 4: Attachments/Researcher Statement
- Do not forget to download the correct version of PI Sheet Template and Participant Agreement Form template.
- Remember that throughout the online ethics checklist, you will find help guides by clicking information icon.
Points to remember
If you intend to conduct interviews/focus groups (any other face to face activities with participants), please make sure you attach a Participant Information Sheet (PI Sheet) and Participant Agreement Form (PAF), any recruitment adverts, interview protocol, observation schedules or debrief information sheets to your checklist. If you are conducting a survey, attach a copy of the questions.
- PI Sheet/PAF templates are available, so please make sure you download an up to date version every time you submit a checklist for a new project. If you’re seeking an Amendment, you may need to consider whether a revised PI Sheet/PAF is required.
Gatekeepers: If you need to use a gatekeeper to access participants, please confirm who the Gatekeeper is and their involvement. You should obtain a written agreement from the Gatekeeper, which clarifies their role & responsibilities and which should contain an acknowledgement that they support the research. Confirmation needs to be agreed before data collection commences.
Referral Services: If it is explicit in your participant information that you intend to refer participants to third party referral services e.g. the Samaritans, the referral service should be informed of the planned research activity before the data collection starts; this is both courteous and professional. Confirmation that this will be done should be made clear within the summary when completing the checklist.
Questionnaire/Online Surveys: When conducting survey/questionnaires the questionnaire should be designed to include a short version of the PI Sheet (preamble) to be used for informing participants about the ethical dimensions of your questionnaire/survey. You should ensure that their consent to participate is recorded (particularly if collecting personal information). There is a template available to download and adapt.
Recruitment Materials: Attach a copy of correspondence you intend to distribute e.g. poster, recruitment email etc. Remember you must display the Ethics ID on any flyers, posters or social media posts.
Other Useful Documents and External Resources
Other useful documents:
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Guidance
- Research Ethics Supplementary Guide For Reference by Researchers Undertaking Journalism and Media Production Projects
- Research Data Management
External resources
We recommend that you also familise yourself with the professional association guidance which is relevant to your field of research. Some are listed below, together with other external resources which you may find useful.
- UKRI - Research Ethics Framework
- MRC – Managing risks of research misuse
- Ethics Guidelines for Internet-mediated Research (The British Pschological Society)
- UK Research Integrity Office: Good Practice in research: Internet-mediated research 2016
- Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research – designed to support educational researchers
- The British Psychological Society – Code of Ethics and Conduct (2018)
- Ethics Guidelines for Research with Children and Young People
- Ethical Research involving children
- The Human Tissue Act 2004 – Research
- Social Research Association - Research Ethics (providing ethical guidance in social research)
- British Educational Research Association
- Market Research Society - Ethics
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UKRI GDPR and Research – An Overview for Researchers. Compiled with the support of the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UKRI have provided a GDPR overview for researchers, which sets out guidance and signposts to further sources of information.
If planning research overseas you should determine whether ethics approval is required in the country you are visiting:
- The International Compilation of Human Research standards, provided by the US Office for Human Research Protections is a useful reference document which details Research Ethics Committees in over 100 countries (they focus on research involving humans). If a local ethics committee does not exist, advice/approval from the organisation or community where the research will be conducted should be sought.
- European Network of Research Ethics Committees – EUREC is a network of existing national Research Ethics Committees (RECs) associations, networks or comparable initiatives on the European Level.
- ClinRegs - an online database of country-specific clinical research regulatory information designed to assist in planning and implementing international clinical research.
- The Campus Database - launched by the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN), the Campus Database, is an online database which includes country-specific information on regulatory and ethical requirements in clinical research across Europe.
Keeping your information secure
The University's Data Protection website has information on Data Protection and Research, Privacy Notices, Information Security and much more..... Some highlights are given below:
- Guidance on keeping you and BU safe and other useful guidance and policies on protection against unauthorised recording, access, use, disclosure, modification, loss or destruction of information. If you intend to use mobile devices – please refer to the Mobile Device Security Guide (staff version) or Mobile Device Security Guide (student version).
- Recognise a data breach – A data breach is a security incident in which information is accessed without authorisation. If you’re ever concerned about a potential data breach at BU, it’s important to call the IT Service Desk as quickly as possible on 01202 965515 (option 1). See Policy for more details.
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Do you plan on making a transfer of personal data outside the UK? If so, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has guidance on International Transfers. Please note that you must speak to Legal Services before any transfer (which includes personal data) is made, particularly if the Reciever is not part of BU.
- If you’re collecting data outside of the UK, you need to be aware of restrictions regarding the transfer of data to and from the UK. To help navigate this complicated area of law, there is a useful website https://www.dlapiperdataprotection.com (made available from DLA Piper) which compares data protection laws from around the world; for the transfer of data please click on the tab ‘Transfer’.
- Familiarise yourself with the different Information Classification Types (also see flow chart) so you know the correct handling procedures.
Useful links on the anonymisation of data and the use of anonymised data:
Guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
Guidance from the UK Data Service:
- https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/manage-data/legal-ethical/anonymisation/
- https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/manage-data/legal-ethical/anonymisation/qualitative
Guidance from the UK Anonymisation Network (UKAN):
Specific Information
Additional Information for Staff
The Review and Approval Process
All Research ethics checklists are reviewed and approved by an appropriate central research ethics panel:
Please note: If you are a member of staff registered on a part-time PhD and you are seeking approval for research in relation to your PhD, please complete the checklist as a Postgraduate Researcher and not a member of Staff. The review and approval process for postgraduate research will apply.
General Information:
- The system identifies risk by the responses you give to the questions raised in the checklist.
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What to expect when completing the checklist – this guide provides an overview of the questions you will be prompted to answer.
You must not start your research data collection activity UNTIL you have completed an online ethics checklist and the checklist has been APPROVED.
We have guidance on how to manage your study files, how to apply for an Amendment, should you need to change your research protocol, project dates etc and the monitoring of research projects.
Additional Information for Postgraduate Research Students
You must not start your research data collection activity or approach your research participants UNTIL you have gone through the ethics review process (this usually means completing an online ethics checklist, receiving a Favourable Opinion (from the Reviewers) and the checklist has been APPROVED online.
The Review and Approval Process
Your checklist is automatically sent to the supervisor you selected to check before proceeding for further review. (At this stage, the status of your checklist will change to 'submitted').
Your checklist is initially reviewed by your Supervisor and they can send the checklist back to you if questions have not been answered correctly or you have not attached supporting study documentation such as an participant information sheet, participant agreement form or questionnaire. If your Supervisor returns the checklist to you online, comments will be included in the email notification from 'research ethics'. (At this stage the status of your checklist will change to 'open'). If you need to reply to the automated email (e.g. if you have a question about the comments made), please click 'reply all', so that your Supervisor is copied into your response (if their email address is missing - add it, as they need to be able to respond to your enquiry).
When your Supervisor is happy with the checklist and supporting documents, they will either:
- forward your checklist for ‘low risk’ projects onto an appropriate departmental Ethics Champion (at this stage the status of your checklist will change to 'reviewed') OR
- forward your checklist for ‘high risk’ projects onto an appropriate central research ethics panel (REP) (at this stage the status of your checklist will change to 'forwarded')
What happens when your checklist is forwarded to one of the two central research ethics panels?
Panels are operating normally but online via Teams
You will be invited to attend a Panel meeting and you should be accompanied by a member of your Supervisory Team (usually your first supervisor). Once the Panel is ready we will add you to the meeting so please ensure you are online.
Panel meetings are informal and you will be asked questions about your ethics checklist project. You will be expected to demonstrate an awareness and engagement with research ethics principles and attending Panel allows for clarification on points of uncertainty and aids the review process.
Time management - plan ahead - ethics approval can take between 2 - 6 weeks
- The system identifies risk by the responses you give to the questions raised in the checklist.
- If you know it's going be identified as high risk, make sure you build in sufficient time to allow for the review process into your research timetable – plan ahead!
General Information
- OEC workflow process - high risk projects
- OEC workflow process - low risk projects
- The system identifies risk by the responses you give to the questions raised in the checklist.
-
What to expect when completing the checklist – this guide provides an overview of the questions you will be prompted to answer.
You must not start your research data collection activity UNTIL you have gone through the ethics review process and completed an online ethics checklist and the checklist has been APPROVED.
We have guidance on how to manage your study files, how to apply for an Amendment, should you need to change your research protocol, project dates etc and the monitoring of research projects.
Additional Information for Undergraduate & Postgraduate Taught Students
You must not start your research data collection activity or approach your research participants UNTIL you have completed an online ethics checklist and the checklist has been APPROVED.
The Review and Approval Process
Your checklist is automatically sent to the supervisor you selected to check before proceeding for further review. (At this stage, the status of your checklist will change to 'submitted').
Your Supervisor can send the checklist back if questions have not been answered correctly or you have not attached the correct paperwork (e.g. participant information sheet, participant agreement form or questionnaire). When your Supervisor is satisfied that the checklist is complete, they will:
- approve ‘Low risk’ projects (at this stage the status of your checklist will change to 'approved')
- forward ‘High risk’ projects to designated Ethics Programme Team (at this stage the status of your checklist will change to 'forwarded').
What happens when my checklist is forwarded to an Ethics Programme Team?
- Your checklist will undergo an additional review. Teams can send the checklist back for further changes if they consider questions have not been adequately addressed.
Time management - plan ahead - ethics approval can take up to 2 weeks
- The system identifies risk by the responses you give to the questions raised in the checklist.
- If you know it's going be identified as high risk, make sure you build in sufficient time to allow for the review process into your research timetable – plan ahead!
See Review & Approval Flowchart
General Information
- The system identifies risk by the responses you give to the questions raised in the checklist.
-
What to expect when completing the checklist – this guide provides an overview of the questions you will be prompted to answer.
You must not start your research data collection activity UNTIL you have completed an online ethics checklist and the checklist has been APPROVED.
Once your online ethics checklist has been APPROVED, the online form cannot be edited. If your project changes as you progress, you need to consider whether your current ethics approval is still relevant. If you need to make changes, these changes need to be approved. Click the link 'post ethics review' for information on how to submit an Amendment Request Form.