Information for School Research Ethics Reviewers

Applications for School ethical approval of staff and postgraduate researcher projects will be sent to three reviewers. Undergraduate student and taught post graduate research projects will be sent to two, one of which can be the supervisor.

Reviewers should enter their comments on the Reviewers Comments Form and return them to the School Research Ethics Administrator.

Reviewers should aim for the applicants to recieve their feedback within ten working days.

One reviewer will be asked to act as the lead and recommend a final decision, taking into account the comments of the other reviewers.

Applicants may receive the following feedback on the decision:

• Application is approved.
• Application is approved with suggested amendments (which are optional).
• Application is not approved and is subject to certain requirements (which are compulsory).
• Face to face meeting between reviewers and applicant requested.
• Application is not approved (applicant can appeal or s/he can choose to change the project).
• Application is referred to the School Research Ethics Review Panel, can be approved or not approved.

All reviewers comments will be relayed to the applicant unless they are marked as confidential. Where substantial queries or concerns arise, the applicant will be required to address them in full. Every effort should be made to resolve issues by feedback to the applicant. The lead reviewer can request a face to face discussion if necessary.

Once the applicants' response has been received by the Ethics Administrator, in the event of a contentious issue the School Ethics Review Panel Chair can be consulted as an additional reviewer. A meeting of the School Ethics Review Panel will be convened at the discretion of the Chair in the event that s/he is unable to make a decision.

Guidance for research ethics reviewers is available from the UREC website