Human Research Ethics - what are they and where can we get some?

1. Human Research Ethics - what are they and where can we get some?

2. The 30 second ethics summary: Who Everyone who is doing ‘human research’ What Approval by an ethics review body Where Office of Research Integrity or Faculty HEAG WhenAfter you have established your research plan but before you start collecting data WhyNational and Deakin requirement How Submit your project for review Respond to requests for more information or amendments

3. What is it all about? Research Ethics • Research Merit & Integrity • Justice • Beneficence • Respect for persons National Statement Privacy

4. Trust and Ethics research participants may enter into a relationship of trust with researchers whom they may not know but need to trust. This trust adds to the ethical responsibility borne by those in whom it is placed…[M]any who contribute as participants in human research do so altruistically, for the common good without thought of recompense for their time and effort. This underscores the importance of protecting research participants. National Statement, page 3

5. What is human research? And who needs ethics approval? Any research activity that involves human participation, including completion of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, conduct of tests, etc is considered human research. Access - for research purposes - to human tissue or to identified personal information that is not already on the public record is also considered human research. All human research needs ethics approval

6. What is ‘ethics approval’? Answer 1 Approval by an ethics review body. At Deakin this means DU-HREC or a faculty HEAG Answer 2 Applying broad ethical principles to the responsible conduct of research and to the use of research data in your project

7. What are the review bodies looking for? • Compliance with the National Statement • Compliance with privacy requirements • Compliance with any other relevant guidelines or legislation • Whether the project will meet community standards for being ‘ethically acceptable’

8. Where do we go for ethics approval and information? Deakin Research Integrity website http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/integrity/ Ethics Advisors: Sally Fornaro sally.fornaro@deakin.edu.au 924 46090 Carly Harrison carly.harrison@deakin.edu.au 522 72975

9. Human Research Ethics Guidelines

10. When should I apply? • You must have ethics approval before you commence data collection • However applying for ethics approval before you have clarified your research program will create more problems than it solves • Talk to you supervisor, who will be able to advise you • If in doubt, talk to Sally or Carly

11. Thought Experiment • Imagine that you are a participant in your own research • You don’t know anything about the project • You don’t know the person conducting it • What are the stages that you need to go through? • What information would you want?

12. Things to consider before you apply Who are the participants? • The ‘kind of people’ • The individuals to be approached How will they be recruited? • General recruitment through flyers/local papers etc • Specific recruitment through clinics/community centres/clubs etc. How will consent be managed? • Consent by the individual • Consent by a parent/guardian/carer

13. What will you be asking them to do? • Experiment • Questionnaire • Interview • Access to records • Capture images What will you do with their information (data)? • Feedback to participants • Use in the research • Storage • Disposal

14. Why do I need ethics approval? Short answer • Deakin as a commonwealth funded organisation is required to ensure that human research is appropriately reviewed • You cannot obtaining your degree if your research is not appropriately approved • If your project is grant funded, funds can’t be released without approval • To publish your research

15. Longer answer • The review process gives you an opportunity to obtain input from many different perspectives – this can be extremely valuable. A senior academic at Deakin has told me more than once that he never had a project that wasn’t improved by going through the ethics process. • It allows you to think through your research in a different way, from a different perspective.

16. How do I get ethics approval? The National Statement defines risk in three levels: Projects involving risk ofharm are considered more than low risk and require review by a fully constituted Human Research Ethics Committee (at Deakin, by DU-HREC) Projects involving no greater risk thandiscomfort may be considered low risk and may received expedited review (at Deakin, by HEAG) Projects involving no greater risk thaninconvenience may be considered negligible risk and are eligible for expedited review or (if they involve only existing sets of non-identified data), for an exemption from review

17. HEAG Process Review by circulation within the faculty For more information… Arts &Education: Kylie Koulkoudinas 522 72368 Business &Law: Katrina Fleming 522 73362 HMNBS: Penny Andrews 925 17174 or Jane Moschetti Science &Tech: Sandra Dunoon 522 72270 or Teresa Treffry 556 33535

18. DUHREC Process • Monthly meetings with set deadlines • Submission through the Deakin Research Integrity Human Ethics Unit • Contact: Vicky Bates research-ethics@deakin.edu.au925 17123

19. For more about human ethics… Information about ethics training and assistance sessions is available on the RSD Event Registration System Regular sessions include: Human Research Ethics Seminars – Introduction to ethics concepts and processes NEAF Workshop – in the computer lab, set up your NEAF account and get familiar with the form Pre-submission clinics – one on one consultation with an ethics advisor to discuss your project