Accessibility statement

Professional Services Research Ethics Committee

About

The Professional Services Research Ethics Committee (ProSREC) aims to provide advice and support about research ethics to staff within the Professional Services Directorate.

If you are conducting, or planning to conduct, research within any of these departments, you may need ethics approval from ProSREC before commencing your work. On these web pages you will be able to find all the information you need to determine whether you need such approval, and if so, how to obtain it.

Do I need ethics approval?

The University’s Code of Practice applies to all academic activities. It therefore applies to activities that could be defined as research undertaken within Professional Services departments, particularly those involving human participants and their data.

The need for ethical consideration by this committee covers both traditional empirical research methods such as questionnaires, and also other methods of data collection. For example focus groups where personal data is collected or sensitive topics are covered.

The University uses the Frascati definition to determine whether a project should be classified as research:

Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.

For further details, see Is this project research or not?  

It is worth noting that this page is written from a funding perspective which may not be relevant in some cases.

When would ethics approval generally not be required:

  • Where work is undertaken as reflective practice, 
  • Where results are not intended to increase the stock of knowledge or evidence the effectiveness of new applications of available knowledge (the Frascati definition),
  • Where the results will not be disseminated or published beyond the required audience for reflective practice or internal service improvements,
  • Where work is intended to support Business as Usual and will not be shared beyond a limited audience,
  • For regulatory matters or mandatory consultations (eg USS)

If you’re unsure if your project is research, get in touch: prof-serv-rec@york.ac.uk