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University of Salford College Ethics Panel
UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD
College Ethics Panel – Notes for Guidance
Application Checklist
This should be completed to indicate which items of supporting
documentation are being submitted with your application. Please ensure that
all necessary documentation is attached and noted on the checklist. If
documentation is missing then the panel will be unable to assess your
application.
Section
1.
a) Enter Project title – (This title will appear on the Approval Memo so
you must ensure that it is correct)
b) If you are applying for ethical approval the answer to this question is
almost always no.
2.
Briefly discuss the aims and goals of the project.
3.
Give approximately three bullet points outlining the main objectives of
the project.
4.
In this section you are required to give a detailed outline of how you are
going to implement your project. It should cover the following aspects
of your project:

An outline of the research methodology

Participant recruitment – How and where this will be done? Are
there any selection criteria for participants? Any recruitment
documents such as posters, invitation letter or email templates
should be submitted as appendices.
College Ethics Panel – Notes for Guidance 2011-12
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University of Salford College Ethics Panel

How will the research be done? Discuss how you are going to
undertake the work and what will be expected of the
participants. Detail how data will be recorded.

How will the results from the research be analysed? Will the
results be verified in any way?
5.
Give a discussion of the rationale of the project. Mention any work that
has already been done in this area, or on which your research is
building, and give references. Explain the motivation behind your
project and why is important. Will your research will be relevant to and /
or develop research already completed?
6.
If your research involves working with any other organisations you will
need to give details of their ethical approval procedures. If you are
seeking ethical approval from another organisation give details of
whether your application has been approved or is still pending.
NB: If you are also applying for LREC approval it is likely that any
approval given by the University of Salford College Ethics Panel will be
subject to LREC approval.
7.
If you are looking to recruit individuals give an outline of how this will be
done – i.e. how you will identify and approach participants. Provide
details of how data will be anonymised after collection.
8.
Informed consent is an ethical requirement for most research and must
be given freely. Participants must be provided with enough detail for
them to understand what the study will involve and documents
provided to participants must be written using appropriate language for
the target audience.
The most common way to ensure that you gain informed consent is by
providing a participant information sheet and a consent form. However,
this is not always the most appropriate means and you are encouraged
to consider what will be the best approach for your research.
For further guidance on informed consent please see http://www.dataarchive.ac.uk/create-manage/consent-ethics/consent?index=3
9. Any data which allows an individual to be identified is covered by the
Data Protection Act and you must make appropriate arrangements for
its storage and processing. This includes for example contact details
that are used to recruit / communicate with participants.
It is recommended that electronic data is password protected or
encrypted and that paper–based data is stored in locked filing cabinets.
Particular care must be taken if data will be held on laptop computers
or on removable storage media such as memory sticks, CD/DVDs or
portable hard drives.
College Ethics Panel – Notes for Guidance 2011-12
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University of Salford College Ethics Panel
Please note that research data can be kept indefinitely if required but
that any personally identifying data should be removed as soon as is
practicable once the study is completed.
If your research participants have not specifically allowed you to name
them in your publications you will also need to discuss how you will
protect their identity in any published results.
10.
If the answer to this question is yes then give details as to what extra
measures are in place to ensure ethical safeguards are being met.
For example if you working with people under the age of 18, obtaining
CRB checks might be appropriate, and there is a need to consider
Gillick competency or obtaining parental consent for under 16s.
11.
Please fill this section in as accurately as possible; however all
applications where the research is being carried out either wholly or in
part on University premises will undergo a health and safety review at
the same time as the ethical review.
12.
Always give an answer to this question, even if you cannot be certain
of the number of participants. Where it is uncertain provide an upper
and lower limit. Give an explanation as to why this number is
appropriate and where suitable give reference to other studies that
have used a similar number of participants.
13.
Please see the “Code of Ethics” section of the RGC website.
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