Guidance on Preparing an Application for the School Research Ethics Committee (SREC)
These notes seek to help you to produce an application that addresses those aspects of your project that the SREC needs to consider. If your application is not clearly written or omits matters of relevance to its ethical status, then further clarification may be needed, so possibly delaying the start of your project. The SREC has produced these notes in an attempt to make the process more transparent, and more straightforward for all concerned.
Please note that the SREC web pages contain a number of examples of applications and associated documentation that the Committee found particularly clear and effective.
Is your project appropriate for submission to the SREC?
If you are a member of staff, researcher or student working at SOCSI, and your project involves the collection and/or analysis of data from human subjects then it needs to be considered by the SREC. Projects of a clinical nature need to be considered by an appropriate medical ethics committee rather than by the SREC. Certain clinical-related projects that are described by medical ethics committees as ‘evaluation’ studies, and which are not considered by those committees, do need to be considered by the SREC. Areas of research involving people who lack capacity to consent can only be approved by a medical ethics committee.
The light touch review and Committee review
All applications to the SREC first undergo a ‘light touch’ review. This process is conducted by the Chair of the Committee. It seeks to identify those projects where the possibility of harm or disadvantage to participants and others is minimal. The key dimensions of possible risk are identified in the Ethical Approval Form. In essence, these aspects are concerned with:
- Children and other vulnerable groups
- Illegal activities
- Your professional independence
- Language issues
- Voluntary participation and informed consent
- Possible threats of physical or psychological distress to participants
- Data protection
There are two Ethical Approval Forms, one for students and the other for Staff and MPhil/PhD research available to download as Word documents from here.
You will note that some of the boxes on these forms are shaded. If you need to enter a tick in any of these shaded boxes, then your application will almost certainly be passed to the Committee for further consideration. If you do not enter ticks in these boxes, your project may be approved at the light touch stage. Please note that the contents of all Ethical Approval Forms must be justified by a separate document, your Project Description, which sets out the details of your proposed project. The Ethical Approval Form and Project Description therefore need to be consistent. The following section provides guidance on the preparation of a Project Description.
Preparing a Project Description
The Project Description should be a concise document. Typically, it should be no longer than three to four pages in length. It should be clearly written in ordinary language, and jargon should be avoided. In essence, the Committee is interested in the nature of the human data that you propose to collect (and/or analyse), the sources and circumstances of its collection, and what you propose to do with it. It is not necessary to provide an extended account of the conceptual background to the project.
The following matters should be addressed. You may wish to use this list as headings when you come to write the document.
- The research. Please provide a concise description of the nature of the research. What is the title of the project? What type of research is being proposed (e.g. PhD research, pilot study, funded research study etc.)? What are the aims and questions of the research?
- Participant details. From whom do you propose to collect data? Profile of sample (e.g. occupation group, socio-economic status, gender, location etc.)? How many? How will they be recruited?
- Methodology and data handling. What methods do you propose to use in collecting data? How will data be stored? Security of data? How will you protect the anonymity of respondents? What are you dissemination plans for project findings? It should be noted that your data will need to be securely stored for a period of five years following the completion of the project.
- Shaded box considerations. If you have ticked any shaded boxes in the Ethical Approval Form, then you should describe what measures you propose to adopt to mitigate any possible harms arising from these considerations. If there are any other ethical issues that are specific to your project then you should describe these, and discuss how you propose to deal with them.
- Information and consent. What will you tell your respondents about the project? How will their consent to provide data be obtained? Please note that although the SREC no longer makes the submission of information sheets and consent forms a requirement, it would be helpful if copies were appended to your application. Examples of both types of document are available elsewhere on the SREC web pages. The information sheet should contain the following details:
- Outline the aim of the research, and its source of funding
- Your identity and why you are doing this research
- Who can participate, and why they have been selected
- What they can expect to happen
- Will tape/video recording be involved?
- Details of confidentiality and anonymity
- How will the data be stored? How will it be used and by whom?
- Right to decline/opt out
- In is important that your information sheet should contain your contact details (together with that of your supervisor, if appropriate) and contact details for the SREC.
NHS Ethics: Guidance Recently Used in Connection with a SREC Application
You are advised to consult the following National Research Ethics Service (NRES) web page which gives guidance on checking whether a research project requires NRES approval. This page confirms that applicants can do this by emailing the Queries Line:
http://www.nres.npsa.nhs.uk/applications/apply/is-your-project-research/
If you do need then to submit an application to the NRES, please refer to the following web page information: