Research Ethics

Overview

At Warwick, there is a comprehensive ethical scrutiny process to ensure that all research involving human participants, their data and/or tissue, addresses relevant ethical considerations and is subject to appropriate ethical review. Ethical scrutiny is required to protect the rights, safety, dignity and well-being of research participants, to safeguard the researchers conducting the study, and to maintain the research reputation of the university.

The first point of reference is the University’s Research Code of Practice.

Therefore, please start by reading this. The Research Code of Practice sets out the University's guiding principles and standards of good practice in research across all subject disciplines and fields of study in the University. It applies to all those undertaking research on the University’s premises using its facilities, or on behalf of the University, including staff, students, visiting or emeritus staff, associates, honorary or clinical contract holders, contractors and consultants.

Do I need ethical approval?

To determine whether you need ethical approval, please see here.

Among other reasons, your research will require ethical scrutiny if:

It involves collection of individual-level information relating to human subjects (including, in some circumstances, deceased human subjects);
It brings you into an environment where you will have contact with children or vulnerable adults (even if they are not research participants); or
The collection of data involves any risks to your safety as the researcher, or to the safety of any other person involved in the research.

Your research will not normally require ethical scrutiny where:

You are engaged in purely literature-based research or documentary analysis;
You are using previously existing datasets (secondary data) where individual-level information is not provided; or
You are using historical records that do not contain individual-level data.

If in doubt, you must consult the Law School’s nominated ethics adviser (see below), or for students, your adviser/supervisor. The burden of responsibility for seeking the necessary scrutiny and approval lies on you.

How do I apply for ethical approval?

Staff

Staff must apply for ethical approval directly from the Humanities & Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC).
See here for information regarding how to apply, including:

Relevant forms for “Full review” and “Light touch review”;
HSSREC meeting dates and deadlines;
How to amend existing approvals; and
Committee Constitutions and Terms of Reference.

If the University of Warwick is not the lead organisation for the research and ethical approval has been granted by another institution’s ethics committee, it should not be necessary to submit the work for approval at Warwick. However, the Chair of the HSSREC will require a copy of the approval granted before the research at Warwick commences.

Postgraduate Students

The Law School has delegated authority from the Humanities & Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC) to review and (in most cases) approve the ethical applications of postgraduate students. Postgraduate students must therefore apply for ethical approval, in the first instance, from the Law School’s ethics adviser (see below).

Ethical approval must be received before any participant recruitment or data collection commences. It is thus recommended that ethical approval be sought as soon as possible. This will normally take place, at the latest:

For PhD students: during the upgrade process.
For LLM students: at the point at which your dissertation proposal is put forward for acceptance by the department.

Before applying for ethical approval, you must complete the concise version of the Research Integrity Online Training Course (Epigeum). That said, it is recommended that you complete the full version of the training. If you are working with human participants, you should also complete the supplementary “Protecting Human Participants” module. See here for more information about this training, including how to register for the courses.

It is also recommended that you undertake any other relevant induction training found on the central welcome hub.

To familiarise yourself with the ethical approval process, please refer to the Research Integrity webpage – “How do I apply for Ethical Approval?” (bearing in mind that you will be applying to the Law School’s ethics adviser in the first instance). Forms that you will need can be found on this webpage.

To apply for ethical approval, you must complete, and send via email to the ethics adviser, the following:

The full HSSREC Application Form (if you think your project qualifies for “Light touch review”, contact the ethics adviser to discuss);
A copy of your Epigeum Research Integrity Training certificate;
If your data collection involves participants:
- Participant information leaflet(s);
- Participant consent form(s);
- Draft recruitment materials;
- Questionnaire(s)/survey question(s);
- Interview schedule(s)/topic guide(s);

If your data collection involves participants whose first language is not English, translations of any documents that will be presented to participants (participant information leaflet(s); participant consent form(s); draft recruitment materials); and
If your data collection will be overseas:
- Travel risk assessment;
- Local ethics approvals (where applicable).

To facilitate an early ethical scrutiny of research projects, the Law School has adopted a Research Ethics Protocol, adherence to which is a requirement. Please read it, refer to it in completing the above documents and act in accordance with it.

In exceptional cases, where the ethics adviser or your adviser/supervisor deems it necessary, your project may be referred to the HSSREC for their approval. Because of this, you should be aware of the schedule of HSSREC meetings (see here, under “Committee meeting dates and deadlines”) and allow sufficient time before you expect to recruit participants and collect data for your application to be reviewed by the department, and if necessary, referred to the HSSREC. We strongly recommend that you submit your application and accompanying documents no less than 4 weeks before the next scheduled HSSREC meeting.

Undergraduate Students

The Law School has delegated authority from the Humanities & Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC) to review and (in most cases) approve the ethical applications of undergraduate students. Accordingly, undergraduate students applying for ethical approval as part of their supervised project must apply, in the first instance, to the Law School’s ethics adviser (see below).

Ethical approval must be received before any participant recruitment or data collection commences. The Law School has set deadlines for undergraduate students to submit their ethical applications. If you are uncertain about those deadlines, please email Professor James Harrison (J.Harrison.3@warwick.ac.uk).

Before applying for ethical approval, you must complete the concise version of the Research Integrity Online Training Course (Epigeum). If you are working with human participants, you should also complete the supplementary “Protecting Human Participants” module. See here for more information about this training, including how to register for the courses.

To apply for ethical approval, you must complete, and send via email to the ethics adviser by the relevant deadline, the following:

The WLS Student Application Form for Research Ethical Approval for Undergraduate Supervised Projects form;
A copy of your Epigeum Research Integrity Training certificate;
If your data collection involves participants:
- Participant information leaflet(s);
- Participant consent form(s);
- Draft recruitment materials;
- Questionnaire(s)/survey question(s); and
- Interview schedule(s)/topic guide(s).

To facilitate an early ethical scrutiny of research projects, the Law School has adopted a Research Ethics Protocol, adherence to which is a requirement. Please read it, refer to it in completing the above documents and act in accordance with it.

In exceptional cases, where the ethics adviser or your supervisor deems it necessary, your project may be referred to the HSSREC for their approval.

Data Protection

Collection of data is covered by the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. The University is committed to compliance with both.

“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”). A person will be identifiable if they can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person. Opinions and inferences are also personal data if the individual can be identified from that data, either directly or indirectly, and the information relates to that individual.

Special protection applies to “special category data” which includes information about an individual's race; ethnic origin; religious or philosophical beliefs; political opinions; trade union membership; genetics; biometrics, health; sex life; or sexual orientation.

You have individual responsibility for the proper storage and disposal of data.

Where research data is electronic it must be stored securely on Warwick servers. Any hard-copy research data must be stored in a locked filing cabinet (in the case of a student, in a locked filing cabinet in your supervisor’s office).

Personal data should not be kept for any longer than is necessary. For example, if email addresses are collected to send out a summary of study results, once the summary has been sent the email addresses should be destroyed and paper documentation shredded.

The Law School’s current nominated Ethics Adviser is: David VitaleLink opens in a new window.

You are welcome to contact them for advice and information in preparing your application. Applications for departmental-level ethics approval should be submitted to them via email, which you can find by clicking on their profile above.

The University's Research and Impact Services (RIS)Link opens in a new window provide a fuller account of university policies and proceduresLink opens in a new window for ethical scrutiny and approval, including a Warwick code of conduct, a statement on the ethical conduct of research, and other guidance. Please read these carefully.

You may also find it useful to consider other relevant codes or guidelines on the conduct of ethical research, such as that produced by the Socio-Legal Studies AssociationLink opens in a new window.