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Guidance for FECs about Referral

Annex A to the Procedure for Making an Application for Ethical Approval

Where Faculty Ethics Committees feel uncertain, or where proposed research is in a higher risk category, then the application must be sent to the University’s Ethics Committee.

The following is a list of activities that should be referred.

Access to personal and/or confidential non-anonymised data without the identifiable participant’s specific consent.
Administration of procedures which may be harmful to participants either during or after the research process.
Research that involves contact with illegal activities, or investigation of identifiable participants involved in illegal activities.
Collection and/or testing of gametes, embryo tissue/cells or foetal tissue/cells.
Administration of ionising radiation to participants.
Research involving individuals with a limited capacity to give informed consent (e.g. adults who are unconscious or very severely ill; adults with learning disabilities; adults with dementia)
Research having potential military/terrorist applications.
Publication of data that might allow identification of individuals.
Research on any activity with suspected adverse health or social consequences, funded by an organisation with a possible commercial interest in promoting that activity (e.g. research on smoking or on alcohol drinking commissioned by the tobacco or alcohol industries, or research on climate change commissioned by the airline industry).

Note:
This does not mean that any of this research should not be conducted but that it must be referred to the University’s Ethics Committee.

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