Any research project under taken within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences that involves human participants must adhere to the Research Ethics Policy outlined in the guidelines and procedures.
The College’s Research Ethics Committee will ensure that research performed within, or supported by, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is conducted in an ethical manner and in accordance with the University Research Ethics Framework.
For more information, please consult the documentation on this website or contact cahbethics@bangor.ac.uk.
Who needs to submit an ethics application?
If your project involves collecting primary data from human subjects, it requires ethics approval from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. This applies to all staff and students (undergraduate and postgraduate).
If you are only using publicly-available secondary data, i.e. data that has been collected by somebody else, your project does NOT require ethics approval. Good examples are non-restricted internet resources, census data, documents from national archives, and corpora like CHILDES or TalkBank.
How to submit an application?
The first step is to carefully read the following two documents:
After you have read the documents, please complete the appropriate ethics application form.
- Ethics Application Form (PDF)
- Ethics Application Form (Word)
The following consent form should normally be used (with amendments as appropriate):
If your participants are children or vulnerable adults, you may need to do a DBS check. Please discuss with your supervisor or School’s ethics officer, or contact Karen Williams for further information.
Student applications:
If you are a student, your next step is to meet with your supervisor in order to discuss the first draft of the application. Once you have integrated your supervisor’s comments, you should submit the application form and supplementary materials by email to your School’s Ethics Officer, copying your supervisor in who should confirm that they have read and agree with the proposal. The School’s Ethics Officer will advise you further.
Note that there may be specific procedures in place for research conducted as part of taught modules and UG/PG dissertations. Please consult your lecturers in case of doubt.
Staff applications:
If you are a member of staff, please submit the application form and supporting documents (e.g., questionnaires, consent form, information sheets, etc.) by email to your School’s Ethics Officer, who will advise you further, including whether the application will need to be sent on to the College Ethics Committee.
How long does it take to get a project approved?
Obtaining approval can take 4–6 weeks, especially when studies include children, patients, etc. There will be further delays if the application is incomplete, lacks detail, or was submitted during vacation periods.
Research projects that represent only minimal risk to participants are usually processed faster and may be approved within 10 days.
Sensitive Research
Bangor University supports its researchers in undertaking valid research using sensitive material. As part of this support it recognises its responsibility to ensure that researchers are protected from a misinterpretation of intent by authorities which may lead to legal sanctions. It is therefore essential that the University is aware of such research, and authorises it through the appropriate ethical processes, before the research commences, thereby allowing the University to demonstrate that it is aware of the project and that it has been through the appropriate review process.
Sensitive Research - Guidelines
Useful links
- Research Ethics Guidelines
- Ethics Approval Procedures
- Sensitive Research - Guidelines
- Participant Consent Form
- University Research Ethics Framework
- Data Protection