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Research Ethics

The University of London is committed to carrying out its research, teaching, consultancy and other activities within a comprehensive ethical framework. 

The University’s principles are applicable to all research, consultancy projects and studies conducted at, by, or in the name of University of London and aim to provide current and prospective members with a clear understanding of the ethical review process operated by the University.

Research Ethics Policies and Process Guidance

The University supports a culture of academic freedom and excellence by providing a framework for review, which subjects research proposals and other studies to a level of scrutiny that is in proportion to the risk of harm or adverse effect to participants, researchers, and to society as a whole.

The University’s Policy is managed and monitored by the Research Ethics Committee (PDF), which may decide to develop additional guidance or policies as code of practices across the UK and the worldwide research landscape evolve.

The University Research Ethics Policy [PDF] forms a part of the Code of Good Practice in Research. Each academic department have particular protocols to use as noted below. The default protocol is the one used by the School. Any query needs to be sent to research.ethics@london.ac.uk.

Updated guidance

Procedures

Research Ethics module is mandatory for anyone who wishes to undertake research at the University of London and must be completed before the submission of the ethical assessment form.

The Research Ethics Training Module has moved from PORT to RESHAPED. Staff and fellows (from both inside and outside the University of London) as well as UoLWorldwide students can access the course on RESHAPED by logging on to https://reshaped.sas.ac.uk/ and will need to set up an account. Once this is done, visit the URL: https://reshaped.sas.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=29 and enter the enrolment key: ResearchEthics_2023

School of Advanced Study students are able to use Studyonline. 

The course, which only needs to be taken once, guides participants through ethical considerations as well as internal processes to secure approval, whatever the circumstances. Any technical issues should be addressed to the learning technology team (Studyonline_Support@sas.ac.uk).

Initial Self-Evaluation (Research Ethics Self Check Form [Word]

Once the mandatory Research Ethics Module has been completed and the assessment test passed, anyone undertaking research at the University is asked to review the University Research Ethics Policy and the relevant approval process and guidance document (i.e., Appendix 1, 2, or 3) and undergo an initial self-evaluation, which will need to be forwarded to the relevant departments. (default is research.ethics@london.ac.uk )

If Research includes interviews, Participation Information Sheet and Consent forms [Word] must also be supplied with the ethics form with a data management plan [Word].

These are the default paperwork. UOL worldwide and ULIP researchers may be provided specific paperwork directly.