All student research involving human participants, conducted under the auspices of York University—whether at the undergraduate or graduate level—must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate York University Research Ethics Board (REB) before any research activities begin.
Please review the information below to determine the appropriate ethics review process for your project.
Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Pilot Projects
Graduate students conducting research for the purposes of completing a graduate thesis or dissertation are subject to review by a delegated ethics review committee comprised of the Associate Dean(s), Research, Faculty of Graduate studies and the Chair/Vice-Chair HPRC. Where delegated reviewers decide that a protocol should not be approved, the protocol will be referred to the HPRC for full board review.
All graduate student researchers must complete the TCPS Tutorial to establish that they have completed the necessary education component and attach their certificate of completion to their protocols. Protocols will not be accepted for review unless a valid TCPS tutorial certificate is attached.
For further information and how to apply, please go to Faculty of Graduate Studies Research Ethics.
NOTE: Failure to obtain ethics approval prior to the commencement of research activities is considered both a breach of Senate Policy as well as research misconduct. All such instances of non-compliance will be addressed by the appropriate institutional office.
Course Related Research, Undergraduate theses, Graduate MRPs
All research involving human participants for graduate and undergraduate courses; Undergraduate theses, and Graduate Major Research Papers (MRPs) that is non-funded and minimal-risk must be reviewed by the relevant unit level Delegated Ethics Review Committee. Research subject to review includes, but is not limited to: surveys, questionnaires, interviews, participant observation and secondary data analysis.
For the purposes of research ethics review, “minimal risk” research is defined by the TCPS as research in which the probability and magnitude of possible harms implied by participation in the research is no greater than those encountered by participants in those aspects of their everyday life that relate to the research.
NOTE: Research conducted by students that is more than minimal risk and /or involves involves clinical trials, must be reviewed by the Human Participants Review Committee (HPRC). Research that involves Indigenous People (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), Communities, and Nations, must be reviewed by the Indigenous REB (IREB). For these types of research, students are required to complete the HPRC protocol form or IREB protocol form. Please contact the Office of Research Ethics (ORE) at ore@yorku.ca for further information.
For more information on ethics review requirements for Graduate and Undergraduate course-related research and MRPS, please go to, “Ethics Review Requirements" for Course-Related Research by Students.
Independent Student Projects
The York University Research Ethics Board (REB) will review independent student-led research projects only if a faculty member is listed on the protocol form as a co-Principal Investigator or co-Investigator. In these cases, students are required to complete the HPRC protocol form and submit it—along with all necessary appendices—to ore@yorku.ca.
Please note all undergraduate and graduate student researchers must complete the TCPS tutorial to establish that they have completed the necessary education component and attach their certificate of completion to their protocols. Protocols will not be accepted for review unless a valid TCPS tutorial certificate is attached.