Overview
All research involving human participants are subject to an ethics review. An ethics review is conducted by an appointed panel to ensure that the research meets prevailing ethical standards, such that the human participants – especially vulnerable ones such as children and those with impairments or disadvantages – are adequately protected.
RVRC-DERC (Department Ethics Review Committee) is the appointed panel within the College that reviews Social, Behavioural and Educational Research (SBER) conducted by its staff or students. SBER that is reviewed by RVRC-DERC must be of no more than minimal risk and can commence only after approval by RVRC-DERC has been obtained.
As per NUS-IRB (Institutional Review Board), risk is considered minimal where the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater, in and of themselves, than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests (NUS-GUIDE-018).
All SBER that are more than minimal risk must be reviewed by NUS-IRB.
Applications
RVRC-DERC handles two types of minimal-risk SBER applications:
All applications are to be submitted via DERC Review and Approval Management Application (DREAM)
The expected turnaround for RVRC-DERC is 2 weeks. That is, upon receipt of an application (new or revised), RVRC-DERC aims to complete its review and inform applicants of the outcome within 2 weeks. Kindly note that the expected turnaround only applies during the two regular semesters – in other words, applications received during the vacation periods will likely have a longer turnaround. Researchers should factor these timings into their research timeline, especially if the research is time-sensitive (e.g., there is a submission deadline for the research to be done as part of an academic course such as UROP).
If an application is deemed more than minimal risk, RVRC-DERC may recommend it to be sent instead for NUS-IRB review. In such instances, an application needs to be made to NUS-IRB through iRIMS-IRB. Submission and instructions for such an application can be found at http://nus.edu.sg/research/irb/irims. For some applications, RVRC-DERC may suggest changes to keep the research at minimal risk so that the applicant does not need to seek approval from NUS-IRB. These changes will usually be substantial and thus deviate from the research objectives – applicants are free to decline these suggestions and apply for NUS-IRB review instead.
RVRC-DERC provides department-level approval and thus its approval does not constitute institutional-level ethics approval. This means that research approved only by RVRC-DERC should not be published in journals that require institutional ethics approval. To publish in such journals, the applicant should seek a statement of endorsement from NUS-IRB. This is to be done by submitting all RVRC-DERC application materials to the RVRC-DERC Administrator (hafsah.begum@nus.edu.sg) to request for a statement of endorsement from NUS-IRB. NUS-IRB will conduct an independent review of the application/request.
Any enquiry related to matters of ethics review by RVRC-DERC can be directed to the RVRC-DERC Administrator at hafsah.begum@nus.edu.sg.
