Ethical Review in CTL

All student research must be reviewed and approved by the faculty supervisor. The Departmental Chair’s designate (Michelle Pon, Terry Louisy, or the Assoc. Chair, Graduate Studies) signs the protocol submission form to indicate that the department is aware the study is being conducted under the auspices of the CTL Department. The student then forwards the signed ethical review documents to the Social Sciences, Humanities & Education Research Ethics Board prior to the project start date. Projects will either qualify for administrative review (exempt from human subjects review) or will require human subjects ethics review (delegated or full review)

The process begins by reading the application procedures from the University of Toronto Office of Research Ethics (ORE) website .

Make sure you complete all the following forms & documents:

Ethics Review Protocol Submission Form for Supervised and Sponsored Researchers (this must be signed by both you and your supervisor (Section G)) and all pages should be numbered.

Recruitment letters, consent letters, & other supporting documentation. Be sure to check out the informed consent requirements and other research ethics related policies and guidelines on the ORE website before writing your consent letters.

Ethics Protocol (max. 10 pages not including appendices).

Explanation of why your submission qualifies for delegated review (approx. 100 words) if you are applying for this type of review (be sure to read the Delegated Review Criteria). An appropriate justification for delegated review should make reference to these criteria.

Instructions for the Ethics Review Protocol Submission form can be found on the Research Ethics website.

Other Guidelines include:

Ethics review submissions should normally not include thesis proposals, journal articles, or budgets.

Each delegated review process cycle (i.e. initial review or review of revisions) takes approximately 1-2 weeks to complete from the date the study was sent to the reviewer. The overall duration of a given review will depend on how many rounds of revision are required.

Researchers are advised to submit their applications well in advance of their anticipated start date.

Applicants are advised to refer to the Consent Document Guide when preparing information and consent letters/forms.

If applicants are preparing ethics protocol submissions that involve key informant interviews, deception, or participant observation, please refer to Ethical Guidelines on Interviewing Public Personalities, Guidelines for the Use of Deception and Debriefing in Research, or Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Participant Observation.

All research to be conducted in schools must have administrative consent/permission prior to recruitment. Some school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, require protocol review by their Research Committee before gaining administrative permission. Please contact the school board to be involved with your research for further information.

As of September 13, 2010, there are new submission procedures for human ethics review applications. The Office of Research Ethics (ORE) has moved to an electronic submission system for all ethics review of human research applications.

As per a memorandum issued from the Office of the Vice President, Research:.

“Protocols submitted for delgated or full review, to Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities and Education or HIV Research Ethics Boards, should be emailed to new.ethics.protocols@utoronto.ca as a single .doc or .pdf attachment, with appendices pasted in at the end of the form. Electronic or scanned signatures are accepted. Where such signatures are not available, please submit the email using the principal investigator’s e-mail account or explain why these options are not available so that an alternate arrangement can be made. All submissions should be made through a University of Toronto e-mail account, to ensure that data security measures are utilized.

As of January 1, 2011 hardcopy submissions will no longer be processed.”

All other submissions, which are not new (e.g., revisions and continuing review submissions), as well as general inquiries, should be sent to ethics.review@utoronto.ca

The deadline for delegated review is EVERY Monday (or first business day of the week) by 4 pm.

Deadlines for full review submissions can be found on the Research Ethics Board website.

You will receive written notification from the ORE once the ethical review of your project or thesis has been given final approval.

It is strongly suggested that you consult with your supervisor throughout all stages of the review.

Under no circumstances should research involving human subjects be initiated until the ORE has issued final, written approval.

If you have any questions, contact Michelle Pon at 416-978-0051 or michelle.pon@utoronto.ca.