How to Apply for Ethics Committee Approval: A Guide for Thesis Students

Research with human participants (surveys, interviews, observations, experiments) requires ethics review to protect participants’ rights. At many universities this approval must be obtained before data collection begins; approval obtained afterwards is usually not accepted.

When is ethics approval needed?

Generally in the following cases:

• Administering questionnaires or scales
• Interviews and focus groups
• Observation, experiments or interventions
• Studies using personal or sensitive data

It is usually not needed for studies that only examine published literature or public documents without personal data. Always check your institution’s rules; some require a written statement that approval is not needed.

Which committee?

Universities often have separate committees for social sciences and humanities, science and engineering, and clinical research. Choose the one that matches your study. If you collect data in schools or organisations, you may also need permission from that institution.

What the application usually includes

• Application form
• Brief summary of aims, methods and significance
• Participants and selection criteria
• Instruments (questionnaire, interview protocol, etc.)
• Informed consent form
• Scale permissions
• Supervisor approval
• Parental consent form if participants are under 18

Informed consent form

In plain language the participant can understand, it should explain:

• The aim of the study and who is conducting it
• How long participation takes and what is involved
• That participation is voluntary and can be stopped at any time
• Confidentiality, how data are stored and when they are destroyed
• Possible risks and benefits
• The researcher’s contact details

Common mistakes

• Starting data collection before approval
• Technical jargon in the consent form
• Collecting more data than necessary (e.g. names when they are not needed)
• Forgetting to attach scale permissions
• Not allowing for committee meeting schedules in the timeline

Ethics documents with Academiana

In Academiana’s methods section, the "Ethics documents" action drafts an application text and an informed consent form from your project’s method details. It never invents information that is not in your project (institution name, dates, contact details) — it marks those for you to fill in. You can also add a ready consent template to the survey builder so that participants give consent before they start.