Research Ethics Committee at the Department of Political Science

Ethics. Photo: Colourbox

The Political Science Ethics committee conducts an ethical assessment of projects which fall outside the remit of the Faculty of Social Science Ethics committee. The SAMF committee reviews the ethics of research proposals in which the release of externally awarded grant funding is contingent on an ethical review. European Research Council projects are one example of such a funder.

The Political Science Ethics Committee deals with other ethics reviews, e.g., where scientific journals require documentation from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), including an ethical IRB approval. Assessment by the Research Ethics Committee is thus optional and can be used as needed.

Application advice to researchers

Please start by reading the Guidelines for researchers published by the Faculty of Social Sciences’ Research Ethics Committee. Then, complete the Research Ethics Checklist and attach any relevant appendices.

You should send your completed application for an ethical review to the Committee Secretary, Lise Sonnichsen. The application must be written in English.

Submissions, response times and process

Please consult the Research Ethics checklist for full details on what the Ethics Committee requires from submissions. The checklist is detailed, but a complete submission will help the Committee to swiftly decide on submissions. Our goal is to support members of the Department meet external ethics requirements and ensure all research we do is conducted in a fully ethical manner.

  • Applications may be submitted at any time. Applications should, however, be submitted before commencement of data collection. In very special cases where the application is clearly assessed to not present ethical issues, and approval is necessary for publication, the application can be approved after the completion of data collection
     
  • We anticipate - in most cases - a rapid virtual review and approval process (one week)
     
  • Formal, full and in person meetings of the Committee will be irregular and ad hoc, and will focus on ethically complex or demanding submissions. Such submissions will require a longer lead time before approval
     
  • Please address all communications to the Committee Secretary rather than to individual members