Research Ethics at SPU

Home > Research Ethics at SPU

ETHICS REVIEW

Saint Paul University has adopted the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS): Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, which addresses the rules and principles that guide faculty, researchers, students and staff members. This is required whether the project is funded or not, whether it is carried out in Canada or abroad, or whether it is a collaborative project or not.

The Research Ethics Board (REB) Committee meets from September to June. No meetings are held in July and August.

RESEARCH ETHICS: COVID-19 INTERPRETATIONS

WHO SHOULD SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR ETHICS REVIEW?

  • Faculty members for their own research;
  • Ph.D. and Master’s students (and their supervisor) or students (and their supervisor) preparing honors or fourth year research projects;
  • Professors who, in the context of their courses, require students to conduct independent research projects (directed studies) requiring the participation of human participants;
  • Course instructors who include research activities as part of an undergraduate or graduate assignment designed to provide training in research. Responsibility for carrying out a detailed ethical assessment of specific projects lies with those responsible for such courses;
  • Professors or students making use of secondary data which were originally collected for purposes other than the current research (e.g., school or criminal records, private association archives, company’s internal documents).
  • External researchers (not affiliated with Saint Paul University) who want to conduct research with Saint Paul University members or on its campus.

APPLICATION FORMS

CONDITIONAL RELEASE OF RESEARCH FUNDS (FORM 1B)

There are instances where a project is not yet ready to be reviewed by a Research Ethics Board (REB) because certain details must still be finalized. Nonetheless, a researcher can request the release of some funds to support activities that do not involve human beings or their data.

According to the Agreement on the Administration of Agency Grants and Awards by Research Institutions, the University is permitted to release funds “to cover only expenses to be incurred before human participants are involved.”

According to article 2.1 of Tri‐Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2), the following requires ethics review and approval by an REB before the research commences research involving living human participants.

To release a portion of the research funds, please answer the following questions, sign the attestation, and return the signed form to the Office of Research and Ethics.

Click here to download the Form 1B.

TCPS2 TUTORIAL: COURSE ON RESEARCH ETHICS (CORE)

CORE provides an applied approach to the guidance provided in TCPS 2. This self-paced course is a media-rich learning experience that features interactive exercises and multi-disciplinary examples. CORE consists of eight modules ranging from Core Principles to REB Review. It is designed primarily for the use of researchers and REB members: Click here for more information about CORE

TAKING PART IN RESEACH: EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

The Panel on Research Ethics is pleased to announce a new set of educational resources to assist people who are participating in research or are considering joining a research study. This material offers information about how the ethics guidance in the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS): Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans provides protection for research participants.

TCPS 2 INTERPRETATIONS >> 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR SENSITIVE DATA >>

HUMAN PARTICIPANT RESEARCH DATA RISK MATRIX >>