QMERC review routes for ethics approval
Why you need ethics approval?
Any research involving human participants and/or their data carries some degree of risk. As researchers you have a responsibility to ensure that you have rigorously considered any ethical implications arising from the research design, methodology, conduct, dissemination, future use and data sharing and linkage. Before commencing the research, ethical risks or issues relating to the research should be considered in the planning stages to ensure this is given due consideration. Furthermore, acknowledging risk is an ongoing process that should be monitored during the life of the project to identify and manage any additional issues or risks that arise.
The risk level of the project determines how your ethics application is reviewed. The risk infographic includes useful items for consideration when designing your research and completing your ethics application. The ethics approval process flowchart shows the Flowchart 1 Routes to ethics review [PDF 41KB]. Please note that applications for moderate and high-risk projects can take longer to review, and you may wish to take this into account when planning your research.
Low risk studies require ethics approval by either the Research Ethics team or a Devolved School Research Ethics Committee (DSREC). However, if the DSREC consider the study to be of higher risk, your application will be referred to the Research Ethics team and you will be notified.
Low risk studies expose the participants to no additional risk than an individual might expect to encounter in everyday life. Such research typically concerns non-vulnerable adults (18+) as participants, with non-contentious subject matters being the focus of the research.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In general, UG/PGT student studies, are encouraged to undertake projects with low levels of risk, due to review timelines. Where an UGT or PGT student research project is classified as anything other than low risk, the student and supervisor will be contacted, and the options discussed. The Research Ethics team can offer early support and advise on how to mitigate the risks and thereby reduce the risk level.
Devolved School Research Ethics Committees (DSREC)
Please note, some DSRECs only review ethics applications from specific courses or modules. The table below lists the current DSRECs and who is eligible for DSREC review.
Humanities and Social Science
| DSREC | Who is covered | Contact email |
|---|---|---|
| Business and Management | (UG and PGT) | sbm-uglevel6@qmul.ac.uk |
| Business and Management | (Staff and PGR students) |
PGR: sbm-postgraduate@qmul.ac.uk Staff: sbm-ethics@qmul.ac.uk |
| Geography | (UG (GEG600 and GEG6212) | geog-ethics@qmul.ac.uk |
| History | (UG and PGT dissertation modules and staff) | history-ethics@qmul.ac.uk |
| Language, Linguistics and Film | UG (LIN042), PGT (LIN7005) | ling-dsrec@qmul.ac.uk |
|
Politics and International Relations |
(POLM017, POLM977: PGT and POL318: UG) | spir.ethics@qmul.ac.uk |
Medicine and Dentistry
| DSREC | Who is covered | Contact email |
|---|---|---|
|
Centre for Medical Education (IHSE) |
MA/ iBSc | ihse-research@qmul.ac.uk |
|
Involvement and Engagement Research |
BMD606. Final year BSc project collaboratively taught between FMD and SBBS. | tbc |
|
Sports and Exercise Medicine (WHRI) |
UGT and PGT, PGR and Staff | sem-dsrec@qmul.ac.uk |
|
Trauma |
MSc Trauma Sciences, MSc Orthopaedic Trauma, MSc Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine, MSc Paediatric Emergency Medicine, PhD and UG | ts-em-dsrec@qmul.ac.uk |
Science and Engineering
| DSREC | Who is covered | Contact email |
|---|---|---|
|
Electronic Engineering and Computer Science |
All staff and students | eecs-ethics@qmul.ac.uk |
|
Psychology |
All staff and students | sbbs-ethics-psych@qmul.ac.uk |
Moderate risk studies require ethics approval from one of our QMERC panels. If the study is deemed to be of low or high risk, your application will be referred accordingly and you will be notified.
Moderate risk studies are (generally speaking) those that fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Vulnerable groups
- Sensitive research
- Deceptive/covert methods
- Children and young people under the age of 18.
- Disclosures and safeguarding
- Elite individuals
- Researcher safety and wellbeing
- Intrusive interventions
Visit the UKRI ESRC website for more information on research which involves more than minimal risk.
High risk studies require ethics review and approval from the QMERC which meets termly. If your study is considered to be of moderate or low risk, it will be referred accordingly and you will be notified.
High-risk studies identify themselves as representing an unusually high risk to participants, the research team or the University, or looking at security-sensitive data.
For moderate and high-risk applications for review at Panel or Main QMERC, the research team will be invited to attend the meeting to answer questions from the committee. The research ethics team will inform you which meeting you are invited to and the time slot.