• Objectives

• Types of ethics review and key requirements

• Review Procedure

1. Academic Research Fund (ARF) Funded Projects
2. Non-funded Projects (by academic staff of the Department)
3. Graduate Student Research
4. Honours Thesis

• Application form

• Sample of Participant Information Sheet (PIS) and Consent Form

(CF)

• About the DERC

Objectives of Departmental Ethics Review Committee (DERC)

Following the NUS Institutional Review Board (IRB) directives¹ and the FASS Ethics

Guidelines for Research with Human Subjects,² the DERC has two primary

objectives: (a) to assess the level of risk to human subjects in research projects of

the Department's academic staff members and students; and (b) to make

recommendations on the appropriate type of ethics review for each research project.

________________

¹See the updated NUS IRB guidelines especially IRB-Guide-006 at http://www.nus.edu.sg/irb/
²FASS Ethics Guidelines for Research Involving Human Subjects (2006).

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Types of ethics review and key requirements

IRB regulations indicate three types of review depending on the level of risk

to human subjects: Full Review; Expedited Review; and Exemption.¹ All NUS

researchers whose projects include human subjects must: (a) obtain DERC / IRB

approval before beginning their research; and (b) obtain informed consent from

their research subjects irrespective of the type of review applied to their research

proposal.

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¹. For details see FASS Ethics Guidelines for Research Involving Human Subjects (2006), page 1; and C.F. Citro, D.R. Ilgen, and C.B. Marrett (2003) Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research. Washington DC: National Academies Press.

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Review Procedure

Based on the two objectives of the DERC and following NUS-IRB requirements, FASS

has identified different types of research projects and has outlined the procedure¹

that FASS Departments should follow for each type. The four most relevant types of

research projects are:

1. Academic Research Fund (ARF) Funded Projects

2. Non-funded Projects (by academic staff of the Department)

3. Graduate Student Research

4. Honours Thesis

_________________

              ¹. See NUS-IRB Guidelines and FASS Ethics Guidelines for Research Involving Human
             Subjects (2006)

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Review Procedure

1. Academic Research Fund (ARF) Funded Projects

1.1 All research involving human subjects should seek IRB

     approval/exemption.

1.2 Faculty Research Committee (FRC) will give in-principle funding

      approval to Principal Investigator (PI) subject to IRB approval.

1.3 PI may seek full review, expedited review, or IRB exemption.

1.4 For seeking an expedited review or exemption, PI should employ the

     internal mechanisms set up by his/her department (DERC) to assess

     the level of risk (following NUS IRB’s guidelines and definitions).

See Flowchart

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Review Procedure

2. Non-funded Projects (by academic staff of the Department)

2.1 All research involving human subjects should seek IRB

      approval/exemption (FASS Ethics Guidelines, 2006:3).

2.2 If PI seeks an expedited review or exemption, PI should employ the

     internal mechanisms set up by his/her department to assess the level

     of risk, following IRB guidelines and definitions (FASS Ethics

     Guidelines, 2006:3).

      See Flowchart

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Review Procedure

3. Graduate Student Research

3.1 Graduate supervisor should assess the risk level of the student

      research and make recommendations to the Department’s DERC.

3.2 Department’s DERC to determine the project risk level and IRB

      review type.

3.3 DERC may approve directly if: (a) the research is exempted; or

      (b) the research involves minimal or less than minimal risk and

      it is not intended for publication.

3.4 If the research involves more than minimal risk and/or if it is

      intended for publication, Supervisor should seek IRB exemption

      or approval on behalf of student.

      See Flowchart

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Review Procedure

4. Honours Thesis

4.1 The supervisor should assess the risk level of the student

      research project and make recommendations to the

      Department (DERC).

4.2 Department’s DERC to determine the project risk level and IRB

      review type.

4.3 If the project involves minimal risk or lower than minimal risk,

      and is not intended for publication, DERC may approve. DERC

      may also approve projects it decides to exempt from IRB

      review.

4.4 If the project involves more than minimal risk and/or if it is

      intended for publication, Lecturer should seek IRB exemption or

      approval on behalf of student.

     See Flowchart

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ABOUT THE DERC

Composition


The Sociology DERC comprises five members: three domain-specific members, two

non-domain-specific members. The DERC was set up in July 2007 and held its first

meeting on 23 July, 2007. All research activities after this date require approval by

the DERC following the requirements set up by NUS-IRB and FASS.

Contact Us

DERC Secretary

Ms Sham Mo Ching, Cecilia

Tel:(65) 6516-3822

General Enquiries

Email:

Mailing address

Sociology DERC

Department of Sociology

National University of Singapore

AS1 #03-06, 11 Arts Link

Singapore 117570

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Correct as at 03 Sep 2008