Status of ethical approval after leaving the º£½ÇÉçÇø or when joining the º£½ÇÉçÇø
The º£½ÇÉçÇø Research Ethics Committee's position statement relating to the status of ethics approval granted by the º£½ÇÉçÇø after the research is transferred elsewhere, and the situation for researchers bringing research with them which has ethics approval from another institution.
Policy
The º£½ÇÉçÇø’s Ethics Review Procedure is designed to provide ethical review and approval for research projects that are undertaken by º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield staff and students.
Whilst this Procedure may be used to seek approval for projects that are undertaken collaboratively with external researchers/organisations, it does not extend to research that is carried out by individuals or organisations not affiliated to the º£½ÇÉçÇø (as per the º£½ÇÉçÇø Research Ethics Committees (UREC) ‘Position statement relating to requests for the º£½ÇÉçÇø / its departments to ethically review external research projects’).
Therefore, if a member of staff leaves the º£½ÇÉçÇø and wishes to continue a research project for which they have º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield ethics approval, they should be aware that the approval granted by the º£½ÇÉçÇø will no longer be valid after the date they leave the º£½ÇÉçÇø.
In addition, if approval needs to be sought for amendments to the project after the research has been moved elsewhere, it is no longer appropriate for the º£½ÇÉçÇø to consider these amendments. This is because the º£½ÇÉçÇø no longer has any oversight of the research and no control over how it is carried out: it would be a potential reputational risk to the º£½ÇÉçÇø to continue to approve such projects.
This means that when a member of staff moves to a new institution, they should seek ethics approval from that institution (in accordance with the procedure that operates there); this process could be carried out in advance of the transfer date to ensure that the research can be continued seamlessly following the move. This will also ensure that there is an appropriate route for seeking approval for any amendments to the project as the research progresses at the new institution.
If the member of staff leaving the º£½ÇÉçÇø is a member of a research team that is continuing to lead the project at Sheffield, then the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield ethics approval will normally continue to apply, even if some minor elements of the project are continued by the departing researcher.
However, if the project (or significant elements of it, such as whole work packages) will be led by the departing researcher, ethics approval should be sought from their new institution before any work on the research recommences: the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield approval is no longer valid.
In the case of researchers moving to the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield and bringing research with them which has ethics approval from another institution, clarity should be sought from that institution regarding whether they consider the approval to continue to be valid, and if so, how the consideration of any amendments to the project should be dealt with.
If the other institution confirms that the approval will continue to be valid, then the researcher would be required to follow the ‘Alternative ethics review procedure’, as set out in the º£½ÇÉçÇø’s ‘Ethics policy governing research involving human participants, personal data and human tissue’.
This aims to ensure that the process of ethical review undertaken in the other institution is sufficiently robust for the º£½ÇÉçÇø to rely on, and that copies of the relevant approval documentation are uploaded to the º£½ÇÉçÇø’s online Ethics Application System.
If the other institution indicates that the approval granted by that institution will no longer be valid, or if the procedure operating at that institution is not judged to be sufficiently robust, then the researcher is required to obtain ethics approval from the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield before any further work on the research is undertaken at the º£½ÇÉçÇø of Sheffield.
In all such cases, the researcher will need to give consideration to the requirements of the relevant data protection legislation. If personal data is to be transferred from one institution to another, this is likely to mean a change in the data controller and research participants should be informed of this and other relevant information relating to the transfer of the research project, for example, new contact details, privacy notice, complaints procedures etc.
º£½ÇÉçÇø Research Ethics Committee - March 2019
Contact
Any queries regarding this position statement should be directed to the UREC’s Secretary, Mrs Lindsay Unwin.
Email: l.v.unwin@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 114 222 1443