Where a number of undergraduate or postgraduate-taught students will be conducting research that is of a sufficiently similar nature to be reviewed together, a single generic ethics application can be submitted for review, using one application form. This process is designed to increase the efficiency of the University Procedure where schools may otherwise have to process large numbers of ethics applications for cohorts of students who undertake similar research projects each year. A generic research ethics review covers more than one sufficiently similar research project. There are two types of generic research ethics review:
Type 1, in which, at a particular stage in their course, a cohort of students undertakes the same research exercise involving human participants. These research projects are training exercises as part of an educational programme. Examples might be learning how to administer a particular psychological test or how to carry out specific laboratory procedures.
Type 2, in which students undertake slightly different research projects, which are sufficiently similar
in terms of the following set of parameters to allow for generic research ethics review:
- the selected research topic;
- the chosen questions, aims and objectives;
- the chosen research methods and procedures;
- the type of human participant;
- the nature of the human participation;
- the type of method chosen to inform participants;
- the content of the information sheet, covering letter or written script; and
- the content of the consent form, where relevant.
An example might be a cohort of students that has to undertake questionnaire-based surveys to find out about adults´ eating preferences or the relationship between smoking and health. In the above cases, the person with primary responsibility for the research projects in question should complete the 'generic' research ethics application (e.g. a supervisor, a course leader, a research director, etc.). The University application form for staff and postgraduate research students should be used for this purpose, and submitted to the university Ethics Administrator. The completed application should demonstrate that the request for generic research ethics review covers research projects that are sufficiently similar in terms of the parameters outlined above. Despite the above, supervisors, course leaders or research directors responsible for generic research projects may, for educational and training purposes, decide to ask students to complete individual ethics applications, even though such applications do not necessarily require individual ethics approval.
Where a research activity that has been granted generic research ethics approval is repeated with different cohorts of students on a year-on-year basis, the Ethics Administrator and the academic staff member responsible for the activity should review the approval every year, to ensure that the activity in question has not changed sufficiently to render the original approval inapplicable. This annual review process, and the decision reached, should be documented. If there has been significant change, a new generic ethics application should be submitted. If there has not, a generic
ethics approval should, anyway, be renewed every five years, i.e. a new generic ethics application should be submitted for review.
With acknowledgment to the University of Sheffield.