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Research ethics in the Faculty of Business and Law

All activities carried out by Birkbeck staff and students that involve one or more of the following require ethical consideration and approval:

  • human participants (whether participating actively or through observation) - from the perspective of their welfare and interests and duties of care for their personal data
  • where there are legitimate concerns for the welfare and interests of those carrying out the activity, including where a researcher needs to travel to a location where the Foreign Office has issued advice to travellers which raises concerns about the individuals welfare while in the country
  • where there is collection or review of individual or case-level administrative data, or archival material, not in the public domain
  • where there is collection or review of sensitive data derived from social media platforms (e.g. data from closed discussion groups or forums or posted by potentially vulnerable social media users)
  • animals - from the perspective of their welfare and interests and duties of care
  • the potential to damage or change our cultural heritage
  • changes to the natural environment
  • the potential for reputation of the individual, the school, the College, the discipline and academia as a whole to be damaged. The welfare and interests of the wider community should also be considered
  • requiring an individual to step outside accepted regulatory or legal norms
  • export controls are required for the research.

Faculty members are required to familiarise themselves with the College policy documents and related guidelines, and with the ethics codes and principles set out by and relevant professional bodies, such as the ESRC, the British Psychology Association and the British Sociological Society.

Ethics application procedure

  • Complete the Faculty of Business and Law ethics application form and submit this with the all necessary accompanying information, including completed information sheets, consent forms, and interview schedules, questionnaires for participant research, copies of recruitment adverts etc. Templates for some of these forms are available within the faculty.
  • The approval is not finalised until the application and all the accompanying documentation have been uploaded to the area designated by your faculty.
  • All proposals stored in school and faculty repositories are subject to audit by the Faculty Ethics Committee (FEC) and/or College Ethics Committee (CEC).
  • Please note, some research funders require review by the FEC and the CEC.

Possible outcomes of an ethics application

  • Rejection of the proposal on ethical grounds. This would only occur if there were fundamental ethical issues with the research, as defined in this policy and by professional ethical guidelines.
  • Referral back to the researcher or student so that the proposal can be amended to address concerns raised by the reviewer. It is the responsibility of the applicant to make any recommended changes and re-submit the amended form together with supporting documentation.
  • Acceptance of a routine proposal
  • Referral to Faculty and/or College Ethics Committee. This will occur for all non-routine applications.
  • Referral back to the researcher or student so that the proposal can be amended to address concerns raised by the reviewer(s). It is the responsibility of the applicant to make any recommended changes and re-submit the amended form together with supporting documentation.
  • Acceptance of a proposal following the faculty/College Ethics Committee Review.

The role of the Faculty Ethics Committee

  • All research and all teaching exercises involving human participants must have received ethical approval at the appropriate level - within the school hosting the programme or by the Faculty Ethics Committee. This is so, no matter where the investigations are carried out. There is not, and possibly cannot be, a completely firm set of criteria for classifying research as ethically acceptable. Birkbeck staff and students are required to abide by ethical principles such as justice, truthfulness, confidentiality, and respect for persons, but also to attend to the evolving understanding of how these principles are expressed in society at a particular time.
  • The Committee's procedures are intended to balance the need to safeguard both participants and researchers, and to apply an efficient and workable set of arrangements. In applying their procedures, the Committee takes account of the law as it applies to health and safety, and the protection of young people, together with the notion of 'reasonable precautions' against threats to the well-being of participants. The Committee reports to the College Ethics Committee.
  • The Committee has the power to scrutinise all research involving human participants or in any of the other areas listed above. When necessary, the Committee shall call upon any other persons with the proper expertise to assist them with their decisions. It has the power to approve or reject research on grounds of ethical acceptability. No investigation shall commence until it has met the conditions laid down by the Committee. If the proposer of an investigation disagrees with the decision of the Faculty Ethics Committee, they can ask that the proposal be referred to the College Ethics Committee. The decision of the College Ethics Committee is final.

Information for Business and Law students and staff

Complete the Faculty of Business and Law online research ethics form.

BSc and MSc taught students

  • If the proposal has been assessed as routine by the supervisor, it should be sent by the supervisor to the relevant Ethics Lead to confirm approval. Once approval is confirmed and the documentation uploaded to the relevant repository, the research can commence. The approval is confirmed once all the documentation has been uploaded to the designated area. The Ethics Lead should randomly sample these approvals to ensure that the correct processes are being followed.
  • If the proposal has been assessed as non-routine by the supervisor, the form should be sent to the local Ethics Lead for further consideration (please refer to your programme handbook/information about any restrictions for taught students to conduct non-routine research). The Ethics Lead should determine whether they consider the proposal as routine or non-routine. If the Ethics Lead considers the proposal as routine, they will return the form to the investigator/supervisor who will inform the student that the project may commence once they have uploaded the paperwork to the designated area.
  • If the officer considers the proposal as non-routine, it must be referred to the Faculty Ethics Committee (FEC).

Research students

  • PhD research students' ethics applications require approval by a supervisor and two Ethics Leads. Once applications are classified and approved by the supervisor, the supervisor should forward it to the relevant Ethics Lead. The Ethics Lead will arrange approval from a second Ethics Lead. Routine applications are approved when two Ethics Leads have signed the application and research can commence when the paperwork has been uploaded to the designated area. As with procedures above for taught students, non-routine applications will need to be referred by the Ethics Leads to the FEC which may then refer on to the College Ethics Committee (CEC).

Staff

  • Staff ethics applications should be considered by the Ethics Lead. If the Ethics Lead considers the proposal to be routine, they can approve the Word ethics application form, and the research can begin once the online form has been uploaded to the designated area.
  • Please send to the Ethics Lead in the first instance. Non-routine ethics application be forwarded by the Ethics Leads to the FEC or CEC as required.
  • Any reviews which cause a conflict of interest must be referred to the FEC.

Members of the Faculty Ethics Committee

(TBC)

Guidance and training materials

Ethical considerations in different disciplines and areas are set out in specific ethical protocols and standards. Some of the most relevant ones to research in Business and Law can be found below.

Birkbeck documents

External institutions

Specific to internet research

Other related codes