Research with human participants

Do I need ethics approval?

If you are conducting research that involves human participants, human biological materials or data under the security of an institution, you need approval from the UVic human research ethics board (HREB). This applies to all UVic faculty, staff and students.

You must have approval before you start your research. You should apply with plenty of time because it can take up to 4-6 weeks to receive the results of your ethics review.

Graduate students should note that failing to get research ethics approval could affect your ability to graduate. 

What requires human ethics approval?

• surveys and questionnaires (in-person, online, web, platforms)
• interviews (in-person, virtual, phone)
• administering experiments and user tests on crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, etc.
• group discussions and focus groups
• observations in non-public venues (e.g. classrooms, meetings)
• audio recording people in any of the above
• video recording people in any of the above
• taking notes of people in any of the above
• self-studies, autobiographical, auto-ethnographic and self-reflective studies
• self-experimentation (e.g. collecting data or biological samples from yourself, administering self-tests or medication)
• engaging with people and their information via Facebook, social media and crowdsourcing platforms
• social media: online posts from sites and groups that require a log-in, membership, etc.
  • these sites are not considered publicly accessible because there is reasonable expectation of privacy
• using EEGs, MRI, devices, equipment, computer programs and apps on people to collect data
• collecting biological samples (anonymous or identifiable) such as cells, blood, urine & sweat
• receiving biological samples from other researchers (anonymous or identifiable)
• using protected databases and data where you must apply for access or permission
• using protected or confidential reports and information where you must apply for access or permission

Non-research activities

Ethics approval from the HREB is not required for the quality assessment of services and programs. Ethics approval may be required for activities that border on or may include elements of research.

Deciding whether a quality assessment activity requires HREB is made through consultation with the chair of the HREB and the director of Institutional Planning and Analysis, if necessary.

These guidelines only apply to:

• internal quality assurance
• performance review
• testing within UVic

Biosafety

The UVic biosafety committee must review your research procedures if it uses:

• microorganisms
• recombinant DNA
• human blood, tissues and fluids

Your research must also undergo an ethics review, usually with a standard application form.

Course-based application

Many instructors assign class projects and activities where students must collect data from human participants. This may be for class presentations, reports or other activities. This course-based research also needs ethics approval.

Apply for course-based research ethics approval

Research conducted outside of UVic

Faculty and staff conducting research as an outside professional activity may not need human ethics approval. This usually applies when a university member acts in their capacity as a private contractor, incorporated or not. In these cases, they are not eligible to seek research ethics approval from UVic.

A research ethics application is not required only if:

• no aspect of the research, from proposal to completion, is undertaken by asserting connection or affiliation with UVic. The UVic title, UVic logo, letterhead and name are not used
• the research is not conducted at UVic and does not use UVic’s resources
• the results distributed in the public domain do not indicate association with UVic

Students conducting research outside of UVic and/or its academic programs do not need human ethics approval. For example, students on work terms, practicums or co-op terms.

A research ethics application is not required only if:

• the research is entirely under the control of an outside agency that has no research affiliation with UVic
• the research is not directly supervised by UVic faculty or staff
• no aspect of the research, from proposal to completion, is undertaken by asserting connection or affiliation with UVic. The UVic title, UVic logo, letterhead and name are not used
• the research is not conducted at UVic and does not use UVic’s resources
• the results distributed in the public domain do not indicate association with UVic
• the student does not plan to use the research project or data for academic credit (e.g., a thesis or major project)

Need help?

If you’re not sure whether your project requires research ethics approval, or need an exemption letter please email us with detailed information about your project.