Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB)

Emily Carr University promotes a high standard of ethics and integrity in research and scholarship.

All university-affiliated research involving human participants requires prior review and approval from the Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB).

Graduate students who are wondering if their project requires research ethics review can consult the FAQ "How do I know if my project needs research ethics approval?" at the bottom of this page.

ECU-REB Guidelines, Policies, Procedures, and Processes

The ECU-REB works in compliance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, (TCPS 2, 2022) and the Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research (2021).

The ECU-REB's Standard Operating Procedures (ECUREB SOPs) are listed and linked in the Emily Carr University's 5.1.2 Research Ethics Procedures.

Additional ECU-REB Processes

  • All researchers who embark on human participant research at Emily Carr University are required to complete the TCPS2:CORE 2022 (Course on Research Ethics) before receiving research ethics approval for their research.
  • All student, graduate student, and post-doctoral fellow applicants must list a supervising faculty member as a Principal Investigator (PI) on their application for research ethics approval.
  • Incomplete applications will be closed after one year of inactivity.
  • Applicants with previous outstanding files (lapsed files that have not had a final report approved, for instance) will not receive research ethics approval until all ECU-REB files are in good standing.

Indigenous Research Ethics Review Guidelines

In 2022 the ECU-REB prepared the statement, In a Good Way: Principles Guiding Indigenous Research Ethics at Emily Carr University. All researchers whose work involves Indigenous people, communities, territories, and topics are advised to read this statement along with Chapter 9 in the TCPS2.

Click here for an audio version of In a Good Way: Principles Guiding Indigenous Research Ethics at Emily Carr University (read by Kajola Moorewood).

Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB) supports respectful Indigenous research practices. We acknowledge that unethical research practices and cultural appropriation have caused direct harm to Indigenous people and communities, and distrust of university-based research. We want to move forward to create something better, and we want Indigenous research to be conducted in a good way. Indigenous research ethics reviews at Emily Carr are done respectfully, honouring the complexity and diversity of Nation-specific protocols, ways of knowing, being, and making.

Inspired by Coast Salish potlatch, the ECU-REB invites those impacted by research to be heard. It honours ethics review and guidance from Indigenous communities, collectives and organizations. Research conducted on Indigenous knowledge, territories, topics, and with Indigenous people and communities may involve rights holders, accountabilities, risks, and benefits that are specific to communities, territories, and traditions.

The board is committed to Indigenous research expertise in all reviews involving Indigenous content or peoples. The ECU-REB follows guidance provided by First Nations Governance Council’s (FNIGC) OCAP® principles for data management (ownership, control, access, and possession), BC Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Final Report, trauma-informed research guidelines, as well as the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2) Chapter 9 “Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada”, among others.

The ECU-REB acknowledges and thanks the committee of members who took on the drafting and revisions to this statement. They included, Dr. Mimi Gellman, Aaron Nelson-Moody (Squamish), Nick Conbere, Martin Rose, Ana Diab, and Coordinator, Lois Klassen. (2022)

Apply for Research Ethics Approval

The Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB) receives applications for review from Emily Carr faculty members, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and external researchers who are conducting research that involves humans at Emily Carr University.

Projects that need approval from more than one research ethics board in BC may be eligible for a single review by the Provincial Research Ethics Platform (PREP). PREP is used by all BC health authorities, most research universities, and most colleges. It allows researchers to submit a single ethics application regardless of the number of BC jurisdictions involved in a project. Information on PREP is available here or by contacting ethics@ecuad.ca .

Projects that have approval from REBs outside of BC may not need to complete the full application. Approved applications, supporting documents, and approval certificates can be uploaded for review onto the ROMEO - Researcher Portal (select the "Multi-Jurisdictional Research Ethics Application").

Emily Carr University researchers and student researchers can apply for research ethics approval of research projects using the ROMEO - Researcher Portal. Sign in using your ECU email and a password you have created.

  • If you are new to ROMEO, follow the self-registration instructions. To speed up the process, please also send an email to ethics@ecuad.ca to confirm that you have self-registered.

  • If you are an Emily Carr student researcher (undergraduate and graduate), please follow these instructions.

After login, click on "APPLY NEW" (right side of screen). Then, select "Application for Human Research Ethics" and follow the prompts. The application invites researchers to assess their projects' levels of risk using the "Risk and Review Tool" (pdf).

Resources for Graduate Students:

Courses that include research activities involving human participants require prior review and approval by the Emily Carr University Research Ethics Board (ECU-REB). Emily Carr University instructors can apply for research ethics approval of course-based research using the ROMEO - Researcher Portal. Sign in using your ECU email and a password you have created.

  • If you are new to ROMEO, follow the self-registration instructions. To speed up the process, please also send an email to research@ecuad.ca to confirm that you have self-registered.

After login, click on "APPLY NEW" (right side of screen). Then select "Application for Human Research Ethics: Course-Based Research" and follow the prompts.

For more information on the course-based review process, review this step-by-step guide.

The application invites researchers to assess their projects' levels of risk using the "Risk and Review Tool" and include it in their application. ECU-REB reviewers will consider the researchers' prior assessment in determining the level of risk needed for the review. Download the "Risk and Review Tool".

Research Ethics FAQs

Research ethics review processes and standards for research-creation and art practices are not always straight forward. At Emily Carr University there is often a blurring of the line between art practices and academic research projects, as well as the line between design research and creative practice. Research-creation is a term that is utilized in a variety of settings. Some of these activities are exempt from research ethics review, some need a combination of review and exemption, and some need research ethics review.

The TCPS2 describes the exemption for creative practice activities this way,

“Creative practice activities, in and of themselves, do not require REB review. However, research that employs creative practice to obtain responses from participants that will be analyzed to answer a research question is subject to REB review.
Creative practice is a process through which an artist makes or interprets a work or works of art. It may also include a study of the process of how a work of art is generated. Creative practice activities do not require REB review, but they may be governed by ethical practices established within the cultural sector.”

(TCPS2, Article 2.6)

Also note that for projects involving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples or content, the creative practice exemption may not apply, even if it fits the TCPS2 creative practice description.

If you are uncertain about whether or not your project qualifies for the “creative practice exemption” you are invited to discuss it or request advice from the ECU-REB. Email to set up a consultation.

Informed Consent Requirements

Informed consent principles and requirements are described in Chapter 3 of Canada's TCPS2 (Tri-Council Policy Statement Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, 2022). Researchers are invited to create consent materials and processes that reflect the literacy and cultural needs for consent. The following templates have been informed by Chapter 3 but are optional.

Invitation / Consent Form Template 201.3

This template provides line-by-line suggestions for an invitation and consent form that meets TCPS2 standards. (Optional).

Download Invitation / Consent Form Template 201.3

Informed Consent for Online Surveys Template 201.7

This template offers instruction on how to construct an online survey preamble. It can be used with online tools like surveys as well as other data collection tools.

Download Informed Consent for Online Surveys Template 201.7

Applications for research ethics approval should be submitted when the researcher has a clear proposal for human participation in the research. There are no specific deadlines. Note that research ethics reviews during July or August are limited. If you need to submit a project for review during these months, please contact ethics@ecuad.ca to discuss feasibility.

Graduate Students

Applications for research ethics review are submitted after your interim thesis plan has been successfully defended. Since the supervisor will be listed as the principal investigator (PI) and will eventually submit the application, the process will require their consultation. There is also direct consultation available from the Research Ethics Coordinator and other members of the ECU-REB. Typically, graduate students use the summer months to write and revise their research ethics applications so that they are ready for approval in the fall semester of second year.

Faculty or External Researchers

Research ethics applications should be submitted after the research funding and partnership contracts are in place, and after the research team has agreed on the plans for research activities involving human participants. If an Emily Carr researcher is a co-investigator on an external project where the PI’s institution has its own ethics review process or if the project is being reviewed through the harmonized REBC process, the ECU-REB will use an expedited process to review applications that have already been approved.

Review and approval process times depend on the completeness and complexity of the application, and the availability of reviewers. In general,

  • The delegated review process for complete applications takes 2-3 weeks.

  • The full board review process for complete applications can take from 1-2 months.

These times do not include the time that researchers need to respond to the need for changes generated by the review process.

To ensure that there is enough time for the research ethics approval process, make sure that plans for research activities involving human participants are discussed with supervisors, co-researchers, and partners at least 3 months before the expected start of research activities involving participants.

As a rule of thumb, plan to submit applications:

  • For applications requiring delegated board review, 1 month in advance of the research activities (see level 2 & 3 of The Risk & Review Tool).

For applications requiring full board review in a meeting of the ECU-REB, 2 months in advance of the research activities (see level 4 of The Risk & Review Tool).

Note that research ethics reviews during July or August are limited. If
you need to submit a project for review during these months, please
contact ethics@ecuad.ca to discuss feasibility.

The ECU-REB meets to perform full board reviews once or twice during the fall and spring semesters. These meetings are scheduled on an as-needed basis. Full board reviews are only required for research activities that fall into "Level 4" category in The Risk & Review Tool. For applications that need to be reviewed at a scheduled full board meeting, researchers are advised to make sure the applications available for pre-reading and distribution at least 2 weeks in advance of the meeting date.

If you think your project will require the full board for a review, contact the Research Ethics Coordinator to discuss the timing of reviews.

There are no full board review meetings available in July or August.

All other ECU-REB reviews are completed online using a delegated review process. These reviews involve one to three members of the ECU-REB. There are no meetings or deadlines scheduled for delegated reviews.

Note that research ethics reviews during July or August are limited. If you need to submit a project for review during these months, please contact ethics@ecuad.ca to discuss feasibility.

Research ethics boards do not endorse specific online survey tools. Instead, they advise researchers to find a tool that meets the specific privacy requirements of their project. Surveys that collect identifiable or sensitive data will require more attention to privacy and data security than surveys that collect non-identifiable data.

If an online survey is used to collect personal or sensitive information, the ECU-REB may require a secure survey tool that avoids exposure to non-Canadian government or law enforcement scrutiny by guaranteeing data storage in Canada.

If the survey tool stores identifiable or sensitive data outside of Canada, this needs to be described in the "survey preamble" that the participant reads before beginning the survey.

This survey template offers suggestions for wording:

TEMPLATE201.7.pdf

Researchers who need secure data collection tools or Canada-based surveys should request a privacy assessment of their research from the Emily Carr University Privacy Office - privacy@ecuad.ca.

All researchers are advised to consult the resources on data security that are available under the tab "Store and Secure your Data" here:

Library Research Guide "Data Management"

Resources on the topics of research ethics and responsible conduct of research are found on the Library Guide, "Research Ethics + Conduct".

Staff and Members of the ECU-REB are available for in-class workshops about research ethics. The workshops are recommended for courses that teach research methods, and courses that take up participation of others in research activities or creative methods. The workshops can be designed to provide an overview of the principles of research ethics and their application to student work or course topics. ECU-REB in-class workshops are expected to be accompanied by the online tutorial, TCPS2:CORE 2022 (Course on Research Ethics). Please ensure that students have time to complete the tutorial before a workshop from the ECU-REB.

Workshops are also available to learn about the online research ethics application/review portal (ROMEO).

To request a research ethics workshop, contact - ethics@ecuad.ca

The ECU-REB also supports university-wide educational events on topics such as data management and research conduct. Recordings of past events are available here.

Further resources on research ethics and research conduct are available here.

These are some common questions and misconceptions from graduate students. If students need to discuss these or other questions, they can request an appointment with the coordinator or a member of the ECU-REB by email - ethics@ecuad.ca

Participation of others - All research projects that rely on the participation of others need research ethics approval before the activities with people start. This includes projects with fellow students or family members, as well as community-wide projects, or any other projects involving participants.

Workshops - If the workshop with others is generating information (also known as "data") as an outcome for analysis in a graduate thesis project, this is considered research and needs research ethics approval.

Creative Practice - If the activity with others is an artwork, research ethics approval is not required. This is because creative practice activities are exempt (see the creative practice tab above). This exemption can also apply to creative activities in other creative disciplines (like design and media), provided they are not generating information (also known as "data") as an outcome for analysis in a graduate thesis project. This distinction can be difficult to make. Students should discuss this with their supervisor. They can also reach out to ethics@ecuad.ca for assistance.

Permission for recording or photos - If the activity with others is generating information (also known as "data") as an outcome for analysis in a graduate thesis project, a media release or permission for recording is not enough. Research projects that involve others must have a signed informed consent process that is approved ahead of time by the ECU-REB. However, creative activities that are exempt from research ethics review can use a media release form instead of a consent form. This distinction can be difficult to make. Students should discuss this with their supervisor. They can also reach out to ethics@ecuad.ca for assistance.