Final Year Projects: Ethics Approval

All students should read and follow the University of Limerick Operational Guidelines for University of Limerick Research Ethics & Governance Committees.

All final year project students must receive approval from the Psychology Local Research Ethics Committee before they begin data collection.  Two applications MUST be submitted. An electronic version must be sent to psychethics@ul.ie AND a paper copy with original signatures must be submitted to the psychology office. An ethics application should consist of:

• The Ethical Approval Form (Guidelines for completion are here)
• An Informed Consent Form (or alternative means of establishing informed consent if written consent is not appropriate - e.g. if the participants have restricted literacy)
• A Participant Information Sheet (which must be distinct from the consent form)
• A debriefing Information Sheet to give participants after the research is complete (e.g. if the research involves any sort of deception).
• All other supporting documentation, including questionnaires, flyers, ads, and so forth.

Each proposal will be read by at least three members of the Committee (including the Chair).  The Committee will meet to discuss each application and agree a decision. The applicant and her or his supervisor will be informed by email of the decision and will receive feedback from the Committee. One of four possible decisions will be made:

1. Accept as is
2. Accept with minor changes
3. Revise and resubmit after major revision
4. Reject (including reasons for the rejection)

Our goal is to provide applicants with a decision within three weeks of submission. If your decision is (2) Accept with minor changes you must write to the Chair of the committee and describe the changes you have made in light of the Committee's concerns. If your decision is (3) Revise and resubmit after major decision, you must resubmit a revised proposal to the Committee for full re-review. If the decision is (4) Reject you will not be permitted to submit a revision of the same project for re-review.

If, in the process of conducting your research, you make substantial changes to your design or procedure, you must notify the Chair of the Committee of those changes.

Therefore, it is important that you maintain a record of your Ethical Approval. You must also report any complaints or ethical issues that arise during the course of your research. It is always possible that the University of Limerick Research Ethics & Governance Committee may audit the Department to ensure that researchers are adhering to the ethical guidelines.

All researchers must abide by the University of Limerick's guidelines for ethical research with human participants. Information about University Research Ethics can be found here. All Psychology researchers, including Final Year Project Students, must adhere to the Code of Professional Ethics of the Irish Psychological Society.

psychethics@ul.ie

Schedule of Submission Deadlines for 2011/12 are:

Monday 26th of September

Monday 31st of October

Monday 28th of November

 All submissions should be received by 4pm.