Request to the Ethics Commission for a research programme involving the participation of human beings
More and more regularly, research funding bodies and organisations authorising experiments involving human beings are asking that the project be approved in advance by an ethics commission set up in the university to which the researcher belongs. In many cases, this approval is also required for the publication of research results in a scientific journal. In some cases, the law requires the researcher to seek the opinion of an ethics committee before conducting the experiment. The attached forms are intended to obtain this approval from the commission set up in IPSY. They should also allow you to reflect on the ethical issues you may encounter in your investigation. These forms are inspired by those proposed at Université Laval http://www.cerul.ulaval.ca/, in consultation with the heads of the ethics committees of the faculties of psychology of the universities of Brussels, Liège and Mons.
The members of the Ethics Committee are at your disposal to help you clarify the points on which you have questions. They reserve the right to forward the file to external experts in the event of a problem (points to be clarified or disagreement). To avoid any risk of conflict of interest, the panel member withdraws from the discussion if the file concerns his or her own research or that of a researcher under his or her supervision.
Complete this form by checking the appropriate boxes. Please ensure that you complete all the sections so that the Commission can process your request. If a heading is not applicable, enter N/A. You must complete this document in electronic form and send it to the Commission in a single file in pdf format (address below).
If you wish, your file can be processed anonymously. In this case, do not send part A, which allows you to identify yourself, and limit yourself to parts B, C, and D. It is your responsibility to conceal in this document any information that reveals your identity. However, some researchers do not consider it important to respect this anonymity.
Request to the IPSY Ethic commssion
Please submit a file by completing the attached form (A-BCD components)
This file is composed as follows:
section A. The identification of the researcher's program and computer signature as well as, in the case of doctoral research, that of the promotor
section B. The description of the program
- scientific information
- summary of the research protocol in a maximum of 1 page (title, justification of the study, objectives, methodology) (more complete protocol in Annex D if available)
section C. Ethical considerations
- information for members of the Commission
- information for participants, including the anonymous informed consent form (see examples attached under the "Consent" section). This information must be written, complete and understandable: it should mention the nature, objective, consequences, benefits, risks, circumstances of the study; unless justified, it should inform the participant of the right to withdraw from the study at any time without incurring any prejudice as a result.
section D. Useful annexes, including the informed consent form that will be sent to participants with the reference person they can contact, as well as the protocol that will be used during the debriefing.
In addition, as appropriate, these annexes could provide the following information max 3 Mo per folder:
- a copy of correspondence attesting to the authorizations of the institutions, organizations or institutions whose collaboration is necessary for the purposes of conducting the research
- a copy of questionnaires, interview or observation grids
- a copy of the information that will be used for recruitment purposes (telephone contacts, emails, ad text, etc.)
- any other relevant documents.
Upon approval, you will receive a file number that you can use as proof, as well as for subsequent requests for minor modifications to your project.
This file will be archived within the Commission. However, it is advisable to keep a personal copy.
For minor changes, the Commission proposes a simplified form to allow you to report updates of the initial draft.
We thank you for your cooperation.
For further information, please contact
Nicolas Vermeulen, UCL-Institut de recherche en sciences psychologiques,
Place du Cardinal Mercier, 10, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve.
E-mail: demande-ethique-ipsy@uclouvain.be