Ethics review

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:

RVRC Student SBER applications

RVRC Faculty SBER applications

DERC Review and Approval Management Application

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.

Additional Information

Applicants are directed to the NUS-IRB website (https://www.nus.edu.sg/research/irb/) for guidance on various research matters such as need for parental consent, use of lucky draws, and data ownership.

Regarding parental consent, NUS students aged18 years and above do not require parental consent to participate in NUS studies. Conversely, non-NUS individuals between 18 and under 21 years of age require parental consent although the applicant may apply to waive the requirement for parental consent.

Grant Considerations

RVRC-DERC focuses only on research ethics, and does not approve or regulate the use of grants. RVRC-DERC approval should thus not to be taken as approval for a grant to be used in a particular way – it is for the grant holder to establish with the funding agency whether the proposed research can be supported by the grant. Similarly, if it is intended that a student’s research to ride on a faculty’s grant, it is the responsibility of the faculty to ensure that this is permitted.

Participant Information Sheet & Consent Form

Protocol Amendment

A Protocol Amendment will need to be submitted if any change is proposed to be made to an approved research. Examples of such changes are new ways of recruiting participants and changes in the instruments to be used for data collection. Approval for the amendment must be obtained before any changes are made.

An application for Protocol Amendment is to be submitted via DREAM and should contain the following:

Application for Protocol Amendment
The original application package, with proposed changes highlighted.
Any other relevant documents