If you are applying for or renewing a grant, or if you have just received a new grant, your application for ethics review should go to the appropriate University Research Ethics Committee:
Research with animal subjects:
All animal research must be reviewed by the University Animal Research Ethics Committee (AREC).
Please consult their website for more information:
http://oor.concordia.ca
Research with human participants :
If you are in the process of applying for a grant or if you have just received a new grant, your application for review should be made to the University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).
If you are beginning a new research investigation that represents a new area of inquiry, a new procedure or a new at-risk population (i.e., children, clinical populations, etc.), your application should also be made to the University HREC.
Please consult their website for more information:
http://oor.concordia.ca
Graduate student research
If a graduate thesis project represents a new area of inquiry currently not funded and ethically approved by the faculty supervisor, a new procedure, or a new at-risk population (i.e., children, clinical populations, etc.), your application should be made to the University HREC.
Please consult their website for more information:
http://oor.concordia.ca
If a graduate thesis project represents a low risk study (i.e., questionnaire based, student participants, etc.) within the area of a Psychology Department faculty member’s already ethically approved program of research, or if it represents minor, low risk changes to a previously approved project (such as changing questionnaires or interview questions, making minor, non-intrusive or low risk alterations to your conditions, etc.), please make your application to the Psychology Department Ethics Committee.
If a graduate thesis project has already been ethically approved (i.e., when the grant funding the project was awarded), no further approval is required. This is normally the case with graduate research using animal subjects. However, should a student propose a project with animal subjects that utilizes procedures not yet approved for the faculty research supervisor, then the research supervisor must submit a new protocol form to the University AREC with a complete description of the new procedure(s) or modification of existing procedure(s). The AREC must approve the new procedures before the student commences the research project.
Undergraduate student research
For PSYC 311, undergraduate thesis, undergraduate honours thesis and other undergraduate course-related research projects not already approved above, the review committee will consist of the course section instructor, a course teaching assistant, and the chair of the Psychology Department Ethics Committee.
Whether working with animal subjects or human research participants, students must fill out a departmental application, have it approved by their faculty research supervisor (if they have one), and submit the complete application to their course instructor. The course instructor and course teaching assistant will review applications, and, should the project be deemed acceptable, make a recommendation to the chair of the departmental research ethics committee to approve the study for human research. In the case of projects with animal subjects, the faculty research supervisor (required) must acknowledge that the project is part of a funded research program that has already received peer review and subsequent ethics approval from the University AREC. A copy of the faculty researcher’s animal care certificate will suffice as proof of this approval and must be submitted along with the student’s application.
Peer Review of Research
As of 1 September 2003, all research at Concordia must have scientific peer review.
In the case of external grants from federal or provincial agencies, this peer review will consist of the granting agency’s own internal review process, and the decision of the external agency will be final. The University’s Research Ethics Committees do not challenge the scientific merit of research that is approved by an external granting agency.
In the case of contract grants with private corporations, the research proposal must receive scientific peer review from the Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Committee. Likewise, all internal, university-funded research (e.g., FRDP) must receive peer review from the Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Committee. In both cases, peer review must precede submission of the application for ethics approval.
In cases where the external granting agencies require ethics approval to accompany submission of the grant, approval may be granted without prior scientific peer review, on the condition that the research must not commence until funding is approved by the granting agency.
Because postdoctoral, graduate, or undergraduate student research is generally considered “supervised” research, peer review is made by several sources, including external granting agencies, faculty research supervisors, thesis committees, course instructors, and teaching assistants.
For questions about any of the above, please contact either the Research Compliance Officer at the Concordia University Office of Research: 848-2424, ext.4888, or the chair of the Psychology Department Ethics Committee.
Virginia Penhune , Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair
Psychology Department Ethics Committee
James G. Pfaus, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair
University Human Research Ethics Committee
University Animal Research Ethics Committee
Page Title: Ethical Review Committees - Concordia University - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Page URL:http://www-psychology.concordia.ca/researchandcentres/ethics/ethicalreviewc...index.php
Date Printed: Wed May 30, 2012
