Projects - Obtaining Ethical Approval
Introduction
You will not be able to start data collection on your project unless and until you have ethical approval from the relevant university ethics committee.
For students on taught courses there are, essentially, three kinds of routes to gaining ethical approval :-
If you intend to run any form of behavioural experiment on humans then you will need to apply to the Departmental Ethics Committee and the information and forms provided here are relevant to this particular route.
If you intend to test non-human animals then ethical approval is provided by the Ethics Committee in the Biology Department. Dr Katie Slocombe will be able to advise on how to go about this.
If you intend to run an experiment at YNiC then you will need to approach your supervisor who will be able to provide the necessary advice about how to gain ethical approval from the YNiC ethics committee.
In some cases it is possible to run EEG/tDCS studies in the department even though, typically, these are carried out in YNiC. If you are intending to do this then you need to follow the instructions contained on this page.
The process
Step 1 - Before starting your ethics form, read the ethics guidance provided in this Google Doc.
For individual projects:
Step 2 - A link to the form that you will need to fill in and submit to the committee to seek ethical approval for your project is provided below and can be found here.
For group projects:
Step 2a - each group member needs to complete a very short version of the ethics form individually. A link to the individual, short form, can be found below and accessed here. This needs to be sent to your supervisor.
Step 2b - all group members together work on the full ethics form (found here) together. Only one copy of this full ethics form is submitted to the ethics committee.
For individual and group projects:
Step 3 - Forward the form to your supervisor for feedback. You can only submit your form after your supervisor has given feedback and has signed the final form.
Step 4 - The supervisor needs to submit the form via this link:
If you are:
testing children and/or vulnerable adults
making audio, visual and/or audio visual recordings
you will need to submit additional consent and/or information forms when you submit your application.
To expedite the process and to help the committee concentrate on the sensitive cases you should alert the committee on the ethics form to anything that you take to be a sensitive issue.
Applications are processed and approved on a rolling basis. We aim to send your supervisor our feedback within two weeks after form submission. Note that this feedback will always be sent directly to your supervisor (who will then discuss it with you) and not directly to students. Once the feedback has been addressed, each student will receive their own approval letter via email.
To be clear, you cannot start data collection unless and until you have the requisite ethical approval. If, after approval is given, you wish to make any (minor) modifications to your project, please contact Dr Angela de Bruin to discuss these changes and to get approval for these modifications before starting data collection.
Links to Ethics Form, Templates, and further Guidance links
Template forms
Generally speaking, the wording on the forms ought not to be changed. The composition of the forms has come about through extensive consultation and with an eye to conforming with current departmental and university policies. Should you wish to change the key text then you need to make this clear on your application and must also provide reasons as to why the divergence is necessary.
The template forms can be found on the links below, which will ask you to create a local copy:
Adult participants - information sheet
Adult participants - consent in person studies
Adult participants - consent online studies
Check list project supervisors