1) As a faculty member what must I do to obtain ethics approval?
2) As an undergraduate student what must I do to obtain ethics approval?
3) As a graduate student what must I do to obtain ethics approval?
5) How do I obtain ethics approval if I want to conduct research with minors?
6) How do I obtain ethics approval if I want to conduct research with animals?
7) Who is the contact for studies reviewed by the department ethics committee?
10) Who implements policies and guidelines related to research?
1) FACULTY RESEARCH:
All faculty research involving human participants (even if it is minimal risk) must obtain approval from York's Human Participants Review Committee (HRPC). Additional information can be obtained from the Office of Research Ethics (ORE)
2) RESEARCH BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:
All course-related Undergraduate student research must follow procedures and use the forms described below.
(i) a) Data collection for an Honours Thesis (i.e., PSYC 4000, 4001, or 4170) that involves minimal risk:
The faculty member who co-ordinates the Honours thesis students (on behalf of all PSYC 4000 or 4001) and each 4170 course director must submit Form 1, the generic research protocol, to the Psychology REB (via Zehra Bandhu, 284 BSB). Form 1 is for all research unrelated to the faculty members program of research.
b) If the research the student is conducting for PSYC 4000/4001 is covered under the Faculty members research program (ethics approval previously obtained from HPRC) the student must still complete Form 2 (see next paragraph) and discuss the process of obtaining ethics with their supervisor. Each faculty members’ approved research protocol is given an approval number and there is an official letter from the HPRC. Students can use the approval number in their documentation (e.g., if they are seeking access to the URPP).
c) Each student registered for either PSYC 4000, 4001, or 4170 completing
research with human participants must complete Form 2, the individualized research protocol. This form must be discussed and approved by the student's research supervisor (Psych 4000 and 4001) or course director (Psych 4170), who will sign the front page of the form and keep the original of the front page. Copies of the front page together with the approved protocol form (pages 1-3) are to be kept by the student for 2 years.
d) Data collection may not begin until Form 2 is approved by the 4170 course director or PSYC 4000/4001 thesis supervisor.
e) Each 4170 course director must ensure that Form 3 (“Confirmation and reporting”) is filled out and signed upon completion of the projects, and submit it to Zehra Bandhu. PSYC 4000 and 4001 students will sign Form 3 when they hand in their thesis to the undergraduate office at the end of the year.
f) All students in Psych 4000, 4001, or Psych 4170 are required to complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) tutorial, available online.
(ii) In cases where the research supervisor or course director does not feel comfortable signing off on the individualized research protocol, the student may submit Form 2 to the Psychology REB by dropping it off to Zehra Bandhu, secretary, Psychology Ethics Committee, room 284 BSB.
(iii) If the undergraduate is doing research for an independent studies project (PSYC 3890 3.00/6.00 or 4890 3.00/6.00) that is not covered under the faculty members HPRC ethics approval, the student must complete Form 2 and submit to the Psychology REB by dropping it off to Zehra Bandhu, secretary, Psychology Ethics Committee, room 284 BSB.
3) RESEARCH BY GRADUATE STUDENTS:
All Graduate student research involving human participants (i.e., research undertaken in connection with graduate courses, Major Research Papers, Theses, Dissertations, and independent research) is subject to Ethics Review.
As of 2005 all graduate students proposing research that involves human participants are required to complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) tutorial, available online. The tutorial is available in English (TCPS Tutorial) and French (Didacticiel sur l’EPTC). Once they have completed the tutorial (a time commitment of about 2 hours) students are to submit the tutorial completion certificate, available online, to their programme office. The certificate will then be placed in the student’s file. The graduate program director or assistant will be asked to confirm its presence when they forward the TD1 form to FGS. Students who conduct research involving human participants within course assignments or Major Research Papers (MRPs) will have to meet the same requirement; the TD2 form. These aforementioned forms can be found on the FGS webpage under Forms and Documents,
click on the document next to FGS Human Participants Research Protocol Form (TD2).
If the research is done in collaboration with the graduate student's supervisor, or is a part of the supervisor's program of research, then the research must be reviewed by the HPRC as Faculty research.
Graduate students should consult with the Graduate Psychology Office for all other research. They will fill out a checklist that directs them to either FGS (for submission to FGS, see instructions on the FGS website or to the Psychology Department Ethics REB (in which case, submit the ethics form to Zehra Bandhu, 284 BSB). It is the graduate student's responsibility to ensure that ethics approval is obtained prior to undertaking research.
4) RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY STUDENTS IN COURSES ( undergraduate and graduate ):
For course-related research in courses OTHER THAN the undergraduate thesis course, wherein students are engaged in the same (or similar) data collection activities to fulfill a course assignment, the course director must submit Form 1, the generic research protocol to the Psychology REB to get ethics approval for the data collection, and Form 3 must be filled out and submitted (to Zehra Bandhu secretary, Psychology Ethics Committee, room 284 BSB) upon completion of the data collection.
5) RESEARCH WITH MINORS ( applicable to everyone ):
It is your responsibility to complete any appropriate forms and be aware of each organizations unique guidelines and procedures.
York's HPRC has established the following guidelines for research involving minor age participants:
1. For participants under the age of 16, parental consent is required.
2. For minimal risk research involving participants 16 years of age and older, parental consent is not required.
3. For more than minimal risk research involving participants 16 – 17 years of age, parental consent may be required.
As there may be contexts in which the guidelines may not be appropriate, it is advised that when utilizing participants under the age of 18, you should consult with the organization that you are working with and the Office of Research Ethics (ORE) for advice and direction where needed as to the applicable consent processes.
6) RESEARCH WITH ANIMALS:
All research involving animals is governed by the Ontario Animals for Research Act, 1968-69 (the Act), implemented by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Animal Industry Branch (the Ministry), and by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). York has an Animal Care Committee (subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Research) which has developed Animal Care Protocol Instructions as well as other documents available on the York Research Webpage on Animal Research (York Passport userid and password required).
No students should be conducting independent research with animals--their projects should all come under the 'umbrella' of their supervisor's work, which will have received approval from York's Animal Care Committee (ACC). So the student should talk to the supervisor to find out how ethics approval is obtained. Each approved animal protocol is given an approval number and there is an official letter from the ACC.
7) DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD (REB) CONTACT
Zehra Bandhu, secretary, Psychology Ethics Committee, room 284 BSB.
8) CHOOSING BETWEEN SUBMITTING TO REB OR HPRC.
Whether you submit to the departmental REB or HPRC is dependent on whether you are a faculty member (see point 1 above), undergraduate student (see point 2), or graduate student (see point 3), or conducting fMRI research (see point 12). Please refer to the appropriate section for the details.
9) CORRECT CONTACT INFORMATION ON CONSENT FORM FOR ETHICS/RESEARCH CONCERNS.
The department research ethics board (REB) is acting
for the university HPRC, therefore Ms. Alison Collins-Mrakas is still the correct person for ethics concerns, and for questions about the research, the student's supervisor is the correct person. The following can be included on consent forms : “ This research has been reviewed and approved by the Department of Psychology’s Research Ethics Review Committee within the context of York’s Senate policy on Research Ethics. If you have any concerns about any of the ethical aspects of the study you can contact the university’s Research Ethics senior manager and policy advisor of the university Human Participants Review committee, Ms. Alison Collins-Mrakas at 416-736-5914. If you have questions about the research in general or about your role in the study, please feel free to contact the faculty supervisor of this research, Dr. xxxx either by telephone (416-736-2100 xxxx) or by e-mail (xxxx@yorku.ca) "
10) IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY AND GUIDELINES RELATED TO RESEARCH AND ETHICS.
Responsibility for implementation of policy and guidelines resides in the Office of Research Ethics (ORE)
11) Researchers conducting surveys on-line must obtain consent from the participants. Recognizing that obtaining a signature is not feasible; researchers are advised that consent must be obtained in an alternate manner. Implied consent, meaning that participants do not explicitly consent to participate by signature or by virtue of completing the survey is NOT permitted as per TCPS guidelines. See the Office of Research Ethics (ORE) website on research ethics for further details.
12) Experiment that uses the fMRI scanner, is this considered minimal risk? No. All research studies that use fMRI are by definition not minimal risk. Ethics for such studies must first be approved by HRPC before the study can be implemented.
ETHICS RESOURCES
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