Meetings of the WU Ethics Board are planned for the following dates:
- 18.10.2024
- 15.11.2024
- 20.12.2024
- 17.01.2025
- 14.02.2025
- 14.03.2025
- 04.04.2025
- 09.05.2025
- 13.06.2025
Regular review ethics applications should be submitted at least one week before a meeting, to allow committee members to make themselves familiar with the application and allow for potential clarification questions to submitting researchers. It cannot be guaranteed that applications submitted less than a week before a meeting can be decided upon in that meeting. Fast track ethics applications are considered on a perpetual basis.
Submission and processing of an ethics application at the WU Ethics Board works as follows:
- The researcher creates a profile this system.
- After logging in, the researcher creates a new study. S/he may also add other (registered) researchers to the study: all assigned researchers can edit/submit/see results and will receive notification emails. However, not all involved researchers have to have an account and be added - one corresponding researcher is sufficient.
- The researcher then creates an application and completes a submission form for the study.
- After completion of the submission form, the researcher submits the application. The system will check the completeness of the form.
- Based on provided information (yes/no questions), the system determines:
- whether the study is exempt from review, enters fasttrack review (only assigned ethics board member(s) review), or enters regular review (all board members review the study on the next meeting), and
- who to assign as specific fasttrack reviewer(s), if applicable.
- In the fasttrack review, the assigned ethics board member(s) review the application. The reviewers can either accept the submission as is, or remove fasttrack status and thus table it for the next meeting for discussion.
- If the submission is not classified as fasttrack, then all ethics board members review the submission, add comments to researchers, and score the submission ("accept" or "revision needed"). If not all scores are "accept", then the submission is tabled for the next meeting for discussion.
- Upon their next meeting, the ethics board members review all submissions that have been submitted and tabled until then, and reach a joint outcome determination ("accept" or "revise").
- After the outcome is determined (via fasttrack or regular review), the status of the submission changes to either "Accept - Review completed" or "Revision - with researcher".
- In case of revision, the researcher will receive a notification email and can then log into the system, see the committee's comments, prepare a revised new submission (based on the previous submission), and resubmit.
- If the review is completed, then the ethics board chair will create an ethics review outcome letter within system. An email will be sent to the researcher, who can log into the system and download the PDF letter.
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