Any research project under taken within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences that involves human participants must adhere to the Research Ethics Policy outlined in the guidelines and procedures.
The College鈥檚 Research Ethics Committee will ensure that research performed within, or supported by, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is conducted in an ethical manner and in accordance with the University Research Ethics Framework.
For more information, please consult the documentation on this website or contact cahssethics@bangor.ac.uk.
Who needs to submit an ethics application?
If your project involves collecting primary data from human or animal subjects, it requires ethics approval from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. This applies to all staff and students (undergraduate and postgraduate).
If you are only using publicly-available secondary data, i.e. data that has been collected by somebody else, your project does NOT require ethics approval. Good examples are non-restricted internet resources, census data, documents from national archives, and corpora like CHILDES or TalkBank.
How to submit an application?
All new Research Ethics Applications will need to be made through the Infonetica system. The first step is to carefully read the following two documents:
After you have read the documents, yourself or your supervisor will need to submit an application via the Infonetica site.
The following consent form should normally be used (with amendments as appropriate):
If your participants are children or vulnerable adults, you may need to do a DBS check. Please discuss with your supervisor or School鈥檚 ethics officer, or contact Karen Williams for further information.
Information for UG and PGT Student Applicants
If you are an undergraduate or taught postgraduate student, your ethics application must be created and submitted by your supervisor. The supervisor must list you as a co-investigator.
Optionally, your supervisor can grant you a role to allow collaboration on filling out the form. The supervisor will first need to create a new application, provide a title, and then grant you a role and let them fill it out. The supervisor will then come in at the end and sign it to allow submission.
If your supervisor wishes, they can do the whole submission themselves on your behalf. You will still have sight of the application because you will be listed as a co-investigator, and will need to sign the form before it can be submitted.
Information for PGR Student Applicants
All new projects requiring an ethical review will need to be submitted here: . Training slides on how to navigate and use the platform can be found on the site itself under Help > Help.
If you are the one submitting an application, you must list your supervisor as a co-investigator. You can also grant your supervisor a role to allow collaboration on filling out the form.
You can find a template of the questions you will be asked on the site here. You may find useful to go over this with your supervisor prior to submitting an application. The site itself will let you skip the non-applicable sections.
Information for Staff Applicants
All new projects requiring an ethical review will need to be submitted here: . Training slides on how to navigate and use the platform can be found on the site itself under Help > Help. Should you require further assistance, you can contact the College Infonetica administrator at p.shanahan@bangor.ac.uk
How long does it take to get a project approved?
Approval via the Infonetica system should take up to 30 days, though we strive for a shorter turnaround with light touch projects. In the case of sensitive projects that need to be considered at University level, the process can take even longer.
Sensitive Research
Bangor University supports its researchers in undertaking valid research using sensitive material. As part of this support it recognises its responsibility to ensure that researchers are protected from a misinterpretation of intent by authorities which may lead to legal sanctions. It is therefore essential that the University is aware of such research, and authorises it through the appropriate ethical processes, before the research commences, thereby allowing the University to demonstrate that it is aware of the project and that it has been through the appropriate review process.
Sensitive Research - Guidelines
Useful links
- Research Ethics Guidelines
- Ethics Approval Procedures
- Sensitive Research - Guidelines
- Participant Consent Form
- University Research Ethics Framework
- Data Protection
Research Ethics Committee
| Member | Function |
|---|---|
| Christopher Shank | Committee Chair |
| Dyfrig Jones | Ethics Officer: School of Arts, Culture and Language |
| Wei Shi | Ethics Officer, School of History, Law and Social Sciences |
| Chrysovalantis Vasilakis | Ethics Officer, Business School |
| Colin Ridyard | Senior Research Governance and Policy Officer |
| Phoebe Shanahan | Ethics Administrator and DBS contact |