Applying for ethical approval for research in the United Kingdom

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4013

Published 16 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4013
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4013

Practice

Practice Pointer

Applying for ethical approval for research in the United Kingdom

A Smajdor, lecturer in ethics , vice chair¹^,2, M R Sydes, senior medical statistician , statistician ³^,4, L Gelling, senior research fellow , chair ⁵^,4, M Wilkinson, consultant pathologist and honorary senior lecturer, chair ¹^,6

¹ School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, ² Riverside Research Ethics Committee, Charing Cross Hospital, London W6 8RF, ³ Cancer Group, MRC Clinical Trials Unit, London NW1 2DA, ⁴ Cambridgeshire 4 Research Ethics Committee, Cambridge CB21 5XB, ⁵ Faculty of Health and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT, ⁶ Institute of Health Research Ethics Committee, University of East Anglia

Correspondence to: M Wilkinson mark.wilkinson@nnuh.nhs.uk

This article offers practical advice on how to expedite theethical review process.

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Applying for ethical review in the United Kingdom can be timeconsuming and burdensome for researchers.¹ ² ³ The process canoften be made easier by implementing relatively minor changesin the early stages of drawing up the application. In this articlewe discuss the practicalities of preparing an application forethical review, and the process by which decisions are made.We offer advice on how to avoid common problems when applyingto a research ethics committee and provide information on theintegrated research application system, launched in January2008.

Chief investigator: Person with overallresponsibility for the research. All applications for ethicalreview should be submitted by the chief investigator

Clock:Period allowed for the ethical review of a new application orsubstantial amendment. The clock starts on receipt of a validapplication

Employing organisation: Organisation employingthe chief investigator, other investigators, or research collaborators.Employers remain liable for the work . . . [Full text of this article]

Approval
Conditional approval
Provisional approval
Rejection

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